Eminem Home Invader Was ‘There to Kill Him,’ Officer Alleges

The man who allegedly broke into Eminem‘s Detroit-area home in April was there to kill the rapper, a police officer testified Wednesday. Eminem initially thought his nephew was standing behind him when he woke up on April 5, only to see it was a stranger. The suspect, Matthew David Hughes, was charged with first-degree home invasion and malicious destruction of property.

Eminem told police Hughes told him “he was there to kill him,” Officer Adam Hackstock testified during a preliminary examination in Macomb County District Court, reports the Detroit Free Press. Hughes has been in custody since the alleged incident and appeared in courts in a prison jumpsuit. Eminem was not in court, but his attorneys watched over videoconferencing. At the end of the hearing, Judge Jacob Michael Femminineo Jr. ruled there was probable cause to take the case to trial, and scheduled the arraignment for Sept. 28.

On the night of the home invasion, when Hackstock arrived at Eminem’s Clinton Township, Michigan home, he saw a security guard wrestling with Hughes outside, the officer testified. Hughes said “friend” and told Hackstock he lived in the same area. After Hughes was detained, he spoke with Eminem, who said he led Hughes out of his home, Hackstock said. Hughes was not armed.

Hackstock said police found a brick inside a broken window on the west side of Eminem’s home. Security footage showed Hughes was at the home for “quite some time” before climbing through the broken window, Clinton Township Police Detective Dan Quinn said. Later, prosecutor Paul Bukowski said Hughes is apparently homeless.

His court-appointed attorney, Richard Glanda, asked Femminineo to reduce Hughes’ $50,000 cash bond, but the judge denied the request. The judge said Eminem’s fame did not play a role in the decision. After the hearing, Glanda said he thinks there might be “some sort of mental issues involved.”

Hughes was previously arrested for trespassing on two properties while searching for Eminem, according to police reports obtained by TMZ in May. Hughes allegedly woke up a homeowner in Rochester Hills, Michigan after 2 a.m. by throwing a rock at a window. When police arrived, Hughes was gone. The homeowner told police he heard Hughes say he was “looking for his brother, Marshall.” Hughes later made it past the security and fencing at a home in Oakland Township, previously owned by Eminem. He rang the doorbell at 4:30 a.m., asking for Eminem. When police arrived, he was still there Hughes was sentenced to 90 days in jail and $1,400 in fines. After he failed to pay the fines, he was hit with an arrest warrant.