Pianist Accused of Murder Admits to Killing, But Lawyers Say It Was ‘Just Cause’

A man on trial for murder claims he killed a woman to protect her daughter from being sexually abused.

Zachary Hughes, a Juilliard-trained pianist, turned himself in to police in South Carolina after they said he fatally stabbed Christina Parcell, a 41-year-old veterinary tech, in October 2021.

Hughes was charged with murder and possession of a weapon, per the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office.

Parcell was “brutally stabbed,” Sheriff Hobart Lewis said at the time, adding that authorities believed she was targeted.

During opening statements at Hughes’ trial, which began in February, his defense attorney admitted that his client killed Parcell, WYFF reported.

“Zach has been waiting for this opportunity to…tell a group of people like you what really happened, which is that he took the life of Christina Parcell, and crucially, he’s been waiting and wanting to tell you why,” attorney Mark Moyer said, according to the outlet. “You’re going to hear that this was done for a just cause, and that’s not malice, and that’s not murder.”

In a pre-trial decision, the presiding judge denied a defense motion to argue that Hughes was trying to save Parcell’s daughter from being sexually abused. In denying the motion, Judge Patrick Fant ruled that the girl was at school at the time of her mother’s death and in no imminent danger, WYFF reported.

But during his testimony, Hughes said in court that he believed that he needed to save Parcell’s daughter after speaking to his friend, John Mello, the girl’s father, the Greenville News reported.

“[Mello] was becoming increasingly more worried and distressed about the safety of his daughter,” Hughes testified, according to the paper. “I told him the only way I would ever consider taking action like this is if I was absolutely convinced that his daughter was not only in danger but that the only way to rescue her from that danger would be to take Christina Parcell’s life.”

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Hughes testified that he came to believe it was his “duty” to “save a child,” and had been “absolutely convinced” Parcell’s daughter was being abused, WSPA reported.

The outlet reported that during Hughes’ testimony, prosecutors asked the judge to make Hughes step down from the stand, saying he was making a “mockery” of the court. Hughes was then reportedly instructed by the judge not to make allegations that Parcell had abused her daughter.

As a result of Hughes’ testimony, the Greenville News, WYFF and Fox Carolina reported that Mello was arrested and charged with accessory before the fact to a felony and solicitation to commit a felony. It is not immediately clear if he has entered a plea or retained an attorney.