A man from South Carolina who testified in great detail about how he brutally stabbed his friend’s ex-wife 35 times was found guilty of murder and given a life sentence, even though he said the killing was necessary because a child was in danger.
Not only did Zachary Hughes’ statement this week lead to his conviction, but it also gave police enough proof to arrest and charge his friend before Hughes even left the witness stand on Wednesday. John Mello, his friend, could also get life in jail.
“I have never seen a defendant come to the stand with such a gruff, cocky, and stern face and explain a brutal murder in that way.” “It scared me a little,” said prosecutor Walt Wilkins after the case.
Nicole Parcell’s body was found in a Greenville County home in 2021. She was 41 years old. The carotid artery and jugular vein were cut. Hughes’s plan to kill Parcell is based on the rose petals that were all over the floor where his body was found. This was just a trick to get Parcell to answer the door.
There was also revenge porn against Parcell in the case, and it was said that she and her new fiancé sexually abused the child she had with her ex-husband.
That’s why Hughes said he killed Parcell, but Circuit Court Judge Patrick Fant III said the defense couldn’t bring them up because they had nothing to do with the killing.
Hughes, who is 32 years old, frequently disobeyed Fant’s order. For example, he told the jury that killing Parcell made him feel better.
“After that, I knew the girl would be safe.” It would be safe for the girl from the physical abuse her mother was giving her. “And there is proof that the government is hiding from you,” Hughes told the jurors.
Fant immediately stopped the evidence and jailed Hughes for six months for contempt of court.
Bradley Post, Parcell’s 68-year-old fiancé, is being held in jail on charges of sexual abuse of a kid. Investigators have not said much about the people who were hurt in those cases, but lawsuits against Parcell’s estate say that her daughter was one of the victims.
As Hughes testified, Mello was arrested. Mello was Parcell’s ex-husband and the father of the child Hughes said he was watching over. He was charged with being an accomplice to murder and solicitation of a crime. Mello has been locked up without a bond.
Hughes told the jury that Mello offered him $5,000 and then $10,000 to kill his ex-wife, but Hughes turned down the money and didn’t kill Parcell until he was sure the child was in danger.
Jones said that Mello also told him where his ex-wife would be and when she would be by herself.
On Wednesday, Mello, 64, had a bond meeting but didn’t say anything about the case. He also didn’t have a lawyer.
Hughes learned to play classical piano at The Juilliard School. Hughes played music in public during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, about a year before the killing, and the two became friends.
Authorities say that Mello was determined to get full control of his daughter, so he and his daughter started to bother Parcell by sending her naked pictures to her neighbors and place of work.
Hughes explained his plan to kill Parcell on the stand. He said that he planned to ride his bike to her house on a route that would avoid traffic cameras and that when he rang the doorbell, he would pretend to be a florist delivering flowers. He also said that he stabbed and cut Parcell because he was afraid that killing her would make too much noise.
“Very rarely does a defendant take the stand and explain such a horrible crime and a reason that doesn’t make sense,” Wilkins said.
Hughes’s lawyers said they would appeal the ruling and the judge’s decision not to let them show proof of the alleged sexual abuse.
According to Tina Parcell, Hughes made her sister “a target on a silver platter” and everyone involved in the case scared her. She asked the judge to give Hughes a life term.
She said, “All of these men did was use my sister.” “They all took advantage of her for their dark pleasure.”
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