Rose petals and a blade: Pianist confesses in woman's 2021 stabbing death
It began with a 911 call from a quiet, suburban neighborhood outside Greenville, South Carolina, on an autumn morning in 2021.
When police arrived, they came upon a grisly scene: a single mother and veterinary technician had been stabbed to death in the living room of her home. They also found red rose petals scattered about and a pungent chemical odor that perplexed them.
What came next was equally shocking -- the arrest of Zachary Hughes, a 29-year-old Juilliard-trained pianist with no criminal record and no known relationship with the 41-year-old victim, Christina Parcell.
"We had no suspects and then with a click of a button, it's like, well, we just figured out who did it," Greenville County Sheriff's Office Master Deputy Blake Wolfe said. "I felt like I just won the lottery."
A new "20/20" episode, "The Rose Petal Murder," airing Friday, May 2, at 9 p.m. ET on ABC and streaming the next day on Hulu, examines the case.
You can also get more behind-the-scenes of each week's episode by listening to "20/20: The After Show" weekly series right on your "20/20" podcast feed on Mondays, hosted by "20/20" co-anchor Deborah Roberts.
On Oct. 13, 2021, Parcell's then-fiancé, Bradly Post, found Parcell lying in a pool of blood with 35 stab wounds.
"It was a slaughter -- make no mistake about that," Tina Parcell, the victim's sister, told ABC News.
Post informed officers that Christina was embroiled in a bitter custody dispute with a man named John Mello, the father of her 9-year-old daughter.
He told police that they should look into Mello, who was then living in Italy. However, the investigation took an unexpected turn when Post himself came under scrutiny for an entirely different reason.
"Bradly Post appeared in pristine condition, freshly showered in a sports coat, a white shirt, slacks and loafers," 13th Circuit Solicitor Walt Wilkins said. "Not somebody that had just committed a horrific murder."
While Post was cleared of the murder, investigators say they made a disturbing discovery. He agreed to let police examine his phone, signed a consent form and provided the police with his password. According to court documents, detectives found "a high volume of child pornography" on his devices which led to his arrest on charges of sexual exploitation of a minor and criminal sexual conduct with a minor.
The breakthrough in the murder case came when police obtained ring camera footage from a neighbor's home across the street from Parcell's residence. It showed a figure entering the front of her home on the morning she was killed.
"We were extremely lucky the Ring camera across the street was highly sensitive to cars driving by and a white Ford Explorer drove by at the exact moment that the individual was walking up," Wilkins said.
Other security camera images around the neighborhood showed a man entering and leaving the area on a black bike.
In an interview with ABC News, Mello denied any involvement in Parcell’s murder. However, although Mello was confirmed to be in Italy when Parcell was killed and police cleared him of the murder, investigators scrutinized his circle of friends and acquaintances. They believed that the contentious custody dispute between Mello and Parcell provided a motive for her murder.
The investigation led police to Michael Manigault, an associate of Mello, who managed some of Mello's affairs in Greenville. While Manigault was quickly ruled out as a suspect, he provided crucial information by mentioning Hughes' connection to Mello.
Using a state motor vehicle database, investigators quickly identified a gold Ford truck that belonged to Hughes. They then searched images captured by a roadside Flock camera, which reads and photographs license plates, and discovered that on the day of Parcell's murder, Hughes' truck was captured with a black bike in the truck bed that matched the bike filmed near the crime scene.
Authorities then obtained a DNA sample from Hughes that matched DNA found underneath Parcell's fingernails. Hughes was arrested and charged with murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. He pleaded not guilty.
Hughes took the stand at his February trial and testified that he killed Parcell after he became convinced that she was a prostitute, a drug addict and a danger to her child -- accusations made by Mello that were never substantiated.
"There was no evidence that suggested that Christina was a prostitute or drug dealer or escort," investigator Jarrad Sparkman told "20/20."
Although he never met Parcell, Hughes testified that he believed her daughter was not safe in her custody and that he needed to act.
"I realized that this was just the only way to save a child," Hughes said.
During his testimony, Hughes made claims that Parcell's daughter was being sexually abused by both Parcell and Post -- allegations the judge ruled were irrelevant and not admissible at his trial.
The judge reprimanded Hughes, who was later held in contempt of court.
Investigators told "20/20" it’s important to note that nobody knew of the allegations against Post until after Parcell was murdered.
Hughes' defense team sought to argue that the killing did not constitute murder because there was "no malice in Zack's heart."
Prosecutors, meanwhile, portrayed the crime as a cold-blooded murder that was carefully planned.
Hughes testified that Mello offered him $5,000 and later $10,000 to kill Parcell out of fear for his daughter's safety -- money Hughes claimed he turned down.
When ABC News reached out to Mello regarding the alleged offer of payment, Mello responded, "It never happened."
Jurors took fewer than three hours to reach a guilty verdict. Hughes was soon sentenced to life in prison. The day before the verdict, police arrested Mello and charged him with accessory before the fact to a felony and solicitation to commit a felony in connection with Parcell's death.
Hughes said he plans to appeal his conviction. Meanwhile, both Mello and Post remain in custody at the Greenville County Detention Center, awaiting their respective trials. Neither has entered a plea.
"20/20" reached out to Mello's attorney, but Mello declined to answer questions and says he looks forward to his day in court.
In an exclusive interview with ABC News, juror David Collins said Hughes "had many, many ways to save a child if he felt she was in danger" that didn't leave Parcell dead.
"He was trying to play God and he was trying to play the judge and he was trying to play the executor. It was his law and no one else's law. And I believe that he took the law in his own hands, and he didn't give another human being a chance to explain themselves," Collins said. "There was no sense of remorse."
