Two young men appear in court in baseball beatings of Cipriano family

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. (WXYZ) - The two young men who are accused in the baseball bat beatings of a Farmington Hills family appeared in court this afternoon.

The preliminary hearing for Tucker Cipriano and Mitchell Young was held in Farmington Hills.

Two witnesses were called to the stand to testify at the hearing. The hearing will continue June 8.

Cipriano and Young are charged with murder in the death of Tucker Cipriano’s father Bob Cipriano.

They’re also accused of severely beating Tucker Cipriano’s mother and brother with a baseball bat.

A friend of Tucker Cipriano's was the first person to take the stand. Ian Zinderman testified that he was with Tucker Cipriano and Mitchell Young in the hours before the attack. Zinderman said Young and Cipriano were discussing how they were going to attack the Cipriano family.

Zinderman said he was offered money to be involved. He admitted in testimony that he had helped break in to the Cipriano family home before with Tucker to try and get money because Tucker and Mitchell wanted to buy "Spice" or K2 - a synthetic marijuana. He also testified that later that night he didn't want to be a part of the attack on the family and asked to be dropped off.

The second witness was a Farmington Hills police officer who described the scene just after the attack.

Tucker Cipriano and his friend allegedly went into a drug-fueled rage beating the family. According to his friends, Cipriano reportedly talked about attacking his family.

Police say robbery may have been the motive and all evidence to support that argument will be heard as a preliminary hearing in the case gets under way.

According to reports, in the early morning hours of april 16th, Tucker Cipriano and Mitchell Young killed Tucker's father Bob Cipriano and beat his mother and brother, Rose and Salvatore Cipriano within inches of their lives with a baseball bat. Tucker's 8-year-old sister and another brother were also in the home and witnessed the attack.

Police think the alleged attackers were fueled by K2 or synthetic marijuana believed to cause hallucinations and erratic behavior.

Now, more than a month after Bob Cipriano was laid to rest, Rose and Salvatore Cipriano remain hospitalized… as they struggle to recover from the brutal attack.

Mitchell Young was arrested at the scene covered in blood and implicated Tucker who would be arrested hours later.

The two have since given statements to police admitting to the attack and blame eh other for the murders.

Dearborn public schools will be honoring Bob Cipriano Wednesday. He was the director of business services for the district.