A Prior Lake man stabbed a 17-year-old Stillwater boy to death and wounded four other people during a physical confrontation between him and several others at the Apple River, a popular tubing destination in western Wisconsin, according to charges filed Monday.
Nicolae Miu, 52, appeared via video connection Monday afternoon in St. Croix County Circuit Court in Hudson and was ordered held in lieu of $1 million cash bond after being charged with first-degree homicide and four counts of attempted first-degree homicide.
The case leans heavily on a video recorded Saturday afternoon by a man in a group of tubers, some of whom shoved Miu and accused him of looking for girls, the criminal complaint read. After a few minutes, Miu allegedly killed Isaac Schuman with a stab wound to his upper abdomen, while four others in their 20s were less seriously wounded.
Questioned by law enforcement after his arrest, Miu said he acted in self-defense as several people came at him while he was looking for a cellphone that was lost by a friend. He said some of them “produced two weapons,” hit him and were on top of him at one point while calling him a child molester.
“They attacked me, [and] I was in self-defense mode,” the charges quoted him as saying. Once he saw someone with a knife, he continued, “I thought that was it for me.” He added that he didn’t remember stabbing anyone, and only had a knife with him earlier in the day to cut the string that held their tubes together.
Told of the teen’s death, Miu said, “Oh, no,” the charges read.
Should Miu post bail, he would have to maintain “absolute sobriety” and possess no weapons, Judge Michael Waterman said.
Miu, handcuffed at the wrists and in orange prison garb, sat quietly in a room at the jail under the watch of sheriff’s deputies during his first appearance. A copy of the criminal complaint sat on a table before him. He responded “yes, sir” to questions from the judge about his identity and other routine matters.
During the hearing, prosecutor Erica Ellenwood requested a $500,000 cash bond. Ellenwood acknowledged that Miu has no criminal record but noted that he does not reside in the county and conviction of killing Schuman could result in a life prison sentence.
Defense attorney Jeremiah Harrelson argued for bond of $50,000. He pointed out that Miu owns his home, is his family’s sole wage earner, works as a mechanical engineer and has lived in the Twin Cities area since 1993.
Harrelson called the incident “an unanticipated, random encounter on the river. … Something went wrong on the river, and it escalated into some unfortunate, very unfortunate, consequences.”
The judge scheduled a hearing for Friday to discuss his legal representation to be followed by another hearing on Aug. 12.
The Apple River has long been a major summertime attraction for Twin Cities residents.
The victims and Miu were all tubing down the river around 3:45 p.m., Sheriff Scott Knudson said. The attack happened just upstream from the Hwy. 35/64 bridge in Somerset Township, close to the Minnesota border and northeast of Stillwater.
According to the criminal complaint:
Miu ran up to several people and grabbed their tubes, a video recording of the encounter provided to law enforcement revealed. People in the group yelled at Miu to “get away.”
Miu walked around as if appearing to be looking for something, started to leave before turning around and saying something. More people converged on him and yelled for him to leave. He walked toward a woman, and people were heard saying “he was looking for little girls.”
The crowd grew larger, and “it does appear that at least one person touched his shoulder” as people were on three sides of Miu at varying distances. Miu had the “opportunity … to leave the confrontation,” but did not, the complaint said.
While two women confronted him, Miu held a knife at his side with the blade exposed. Multiple people moved toward Miu and he fell backward into the water and was slapped in the face.
Miu got back on his feet and was shoved from behind by someone in swimming trunks who came at him again. Miu then stabbed the person wearing the trunks in the abdomen “while being shoved back in the water on his back.”
As Miu stood up again, the shoving of Miu continued, and he responded with more stabbing motions and ran off.
Miu’s wife, Sondra Miu, told law enforcement that she and her husband went to the river with two friends to ride tubes. She said her husband left the group to look for a cellphone that one of them had lost.
She said she saw people get off their tubes and start hitting him, but she did not see anything else. She said Miu told her that people grabbed the knife from him and swung it at him, and that they were accusing him of being a pedophile before attacking him.
Sondra Miu said she didn’t think her husband “was there long enough to harm anyone,” the charges read.
The surviving victims were all hospitalized in stable condition, ranging from serious to critical injuries to their torso or chest, Sunday’s statement from the Sheriff’s Office read. They include two men from Luck, Wis., one 20 and the other 22 years old; a 24-year-old woman from Burnsville, and a 22-year-old man from Elk River. Officials have yet to disclose their identities.
Knudson said Monday afternoon that the two victims from Luck have since been released from the hospital.
The woman from Burnsville is Ryhley Mattison, who explained on a GoFundMe page on her behalf that “some friends and I were tubing when we came [across] a group who were asking for our help. My friends and I went over to see what was going on, and there was an older man there being inappropriate and was asked to leave but wouldn’t. The older man ended up having a knife and stabbed a few friends of mine and myself included.”
The sheriff said, “Thank goodness a witness had taken a photo of [the suspect]. Another witness located him at the exit of the tubing area, where he was taken into custody. We don’t know yet who was connected to who, who knew each other or what precipitated it. It’s a tragic day.”
In response to the attack, the tubing services operator closed for the day Sunday but resumed business Monday.
Saturday was “a difficult and tragic day on the river,” a Facebook posting Sunday from River’s Edge Campground read. “Tens of thousands of visitors annually … have enjoyed floating the river with family and friends. Yesterday, an act of violence shattered that serenity.”
The posting described the emergency response to the incident as “immediate and showed the very best of the community, its people, and the volunteers and professionals who serve us. … No amount of preparation can predict or plan for random acts of violence like this, but due to the concerted efforts of all involved, the situation was fully addressed and under control in a short time.”
Stillwater High School Principal Robert Bach said in an e-mail to families that “we extend our deepest sympathy to the family and everyone impacted directly or indirectly. … During this time of grief, we ask you to keep the family in your thoughts.”
Bach added, “The death of a classmate, even for those who didn’t know them well, will impact each student differently, and all reactions need to be addressed with great care and support. We encourage you to talk with your children about this sad news and help them to process their feelings.
“Please let us know how we can continue to help you and your children as we work through this difficult process together.”