HUDSON, Wis. — Editor's Note: The attached video aired on Aug. 1, 2022.
A trial is underway in St. Croix County Court for a man charged with killing a teen and injuring four others.
Nicolae Miu is charged with one count of first-degree intentional homicide and four counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide from a stabbing on the Apple River on July 30, 2022, that killed 17-year-old Isaac Schuman and wounded four others.
A jury was seated Monday morning with opening statements Monday afternoon before the state called its first witnesses.
Prior to the testimony of one of the witnesses who was there that day, prosecutors played a graphic cell phone video showing the interaction between a group of teens and Miu.
A criminal complaint said Miu, who was 52 years old at the time, was out tubing on the river with his wife and friends when the incident boiled over shortly after 3:45 on that Saturday afternoon. Prosecutors say Miu pulled a knife with a blade approximately three inches long from his pocket and lashed out at a group of younger people during a confrontation.
In 2022, Miu told police he acted in self-defense on July 30 when he stabbed five people, including Schuman. The other four victims were transported to the hospital with serious injuries.
Miu was back in court in April of 2023, when he asked the judge to throw out his police interrogation and other comments made to police because he had asked for an attorney first.
"Nic was transported to another St. Croix County Deputy's squad car," Sheriff Scott Knudson read from a report while testifying in April. "While being placed in the squad car, Nic asked if there would be an attorney at the jail."
The evidence is important to the state's case, because according to prior testimony, in that interrogation, Miu claimed he didn't bring a knife when he went tubing on the river. That contradicts what his family said, as they told police he brought a knife.
In the complaint filed against Miu, prosecutors described a video of the incident that reflects the defendant swimming up to a group of juveniles with a diving mask and snorkel and grabbing their tubes. The video reportedly shows multiple people surround Miu and yelling at him, capturing members of the group accusing the defendant of being a child molester and "looking for little girls." Prosecutors maintain it was clear Miu had opportunity to walk away from the situation.
The defendant's wife later claimed he put the mask on to search for a cell phone that had been dropped in the river.
As the confrontation escalated, the video showed the group appearing to move toward the defendant, and he was pushed backwards into the water, according to the complaint.
In the complaint, investigators said they spoke with multiple witnesses and members of the group involved in the confrontation who indicated Miu was bothering them. They supported what others told law enforcement, that the defendant was only physically confronted after he had punched a young female in the face.
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