Court order reveals details about evidence on murder suspect’s phone

By WYFF Staff

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    GREENVILLE, South Carolina (WYFF) — A judge has ordered a man charged with the murder of a woman in a Greer neighborhood to turn over his cellphone password to investigators.

Zachary Hughes is charged with murder in the death of Christina Parcell.

Parcell was found stabbed to death in her home in the Canebrake neighborhood of Greer in October 2021.

In September, a judge granted a motion filed by the 13th Circuit Solicitor’s Office to compel Hughes to hand over his iPhone password. See video above.

Solicitor Walt Wilkins said there was information crucial to their investigation on Hughes’ phone, including messages with the father of Parcell’s child, John Mello.

In the order, filed at the end of September, Hughes is said to be a close friend of Mello. The order says Hughes worked for Mello, cleaning Mello’s house and performing other tasks during 2020 and 2021.

In October 2021, after Parcell’s death, Mello was charged with custodial interference, allegedly in violation of the child custody order, he had with Parcell for their child.

According to the order, Mello put Hughes as the sole person under the relationship portion of his booking log.

The state alleges, Mello created a video granting Hughes exclusive rights to obtain his belongings from the airport after his arrest.

When Hughes was arrested and charged with Parcell’s murder, investigators say they got a search warrant for his iPhone.

The state says Hughes’ phone required a six-digit password to unlock. The order says a forensic technician used software to try to unlock Hughes’ cellphone, but was only able to download partial information.

Investigators say some of the information downloaded was encrypted and could not be read.

According to the order, investigators were able to partially download WhatsApp conversations between Hughes and Mello, geolocation of the iPhone, showing location, photos, texts and emails, and data showing when the phone was turned off or placed in airplane mode.

The state says there are around 1,769 WhatsApp messages between Hughes and Mello, but the messages are scrambled.

The order says there is one conversation between Hughes and Mello in April 2021 where Mello tells Hughes he got Parcell’s private number and tells Hughes to “harass the (expletive) out of her.”

According to the order, the state says numerous conversations happened between Hughes and Mello between Oct. 8, 2021, and Oct. 31, 2021, when Parcell was murdered.

The state says there was a conversation on Oct. 13, 2021, where Mello asks Hughes, “How did the music research go.” Hughes responds, “Good, I’ll tell you over the phone.”

The order says investigators were also able to determine Hughes’ phone was in five times; twice the day before Parcell’s murder, twice the day of her murder and once six days after her murder.

Solicitor Walt Wilkins says Hughes is required to comply with the order, otherwise, he could be held in contempt.

Typically, Wilkins says someone held in contempt could be sent to jail, however since Hughes is already in jail, if he does not hand over his password, that can further be used against him.

Hughes is in the Greenville County Detention Center.

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