Man Charged in Fatal Stabbing During River Tubing Confrontation in Wisconsin

Aug 2, 2022
Man Charged in Fatal Stabbing During River Tubing Confrontation in Wisconsin

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A 52-year-old Minnesota man was charged Monday with killing a young person and stabbing 4 different individuals at a preferred summer season tubing spot in Wisconsin in a confrontation with a separate group that, based on the person, started as he searched the river for a misplaced cellphone.

The person, Nicolae Miu, of Prior Lake, Minn., was charged with first-degree intentional murder within the Saturday killing of {the teenager}, recognized by his household as 17-year-old Isaac Schuman of Stillwater, Minn. Mr. Miu additionally faces 4 prices of tried first-degree intentional murder, a felony, based on a prison grievance filed Monday within the Circuit Courtroom of St. Croix County, Wis.

The grievance described a bloody scene wherein Mr. Miu “waved” a knife at a gaggle of younger individuals throughout a dispute on the Apple River, a tributary to the St. Croix River, that’s frequented by tubers and campers who go to from close by St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Mr. Miu — described within the grievance as “an older male” with grey hair, weighing roughly 250 kilos — was captured on video working towards a gaggle shirtless and carrying a snorkel, based on the paperwork. Within the video, the group might be heard telling him to “get away,” based on the paperwork.

In accordance with interviews with witnesses and victims, Mr. Miu was “bothering a gaggle of juveniles on their tubes.” Members of this group “have been yelling for assist from different people floating down the river close by,” based on the paperwork.

Witnesses stated {that a} group of individuals got here and stood between Mr. Miu and the juveniles and informed him to depart. In addition they stated that he punched or slapped a lady within the second group who was confronting him. In accordance with the witnesses, Mr. Miu was then punched by a person and fell into the river, paperwork say.

Mr. Miu then started “stabbing a number of people who have been close to him,” based on the grievance. They described the knife as having a three-inch silver blade. After the stabbing, “there was sufficient blood within the river that the water turned a pink tint in locations,” court docket paperwork say.

The authorities haven’t launched the names of the victims. {The teenager} was pronounced useless after being taken to a hospital. The 4 different victims have been in steady situation, the authorities stated.

In an interview with the authorities, Mr. Miu claimed he was performing in self-defense, and that he had initially approached the group as a result of he was in search of a misplaced cellphone and thought considered one of them might need discovered it.

In an announcement, {the teenager}’s household described him as an honor roll scholar wanting ahead to his senior yr at Stillwater Excessive College. They stated he had hoped to pursue a level in electrical engineering, and within the final yr, had began a automotive and boat detailing enterprise.

“Isaac entered each room with an enormous smile, infectiously optimistic aura, and lifted everybody round him up,” his household stated within the assertion. “He had an extremely vibrant future forward of him and we’re all heartbroken and devastated.”

The injured have been described as two males, ages 20 and 22, from Luck, Wis.; a lady, 24, from Burnsville, Minn.; and a 22-year-old man from Elk River, Minn., Sheriff Scott Knudson of the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Workplace stated in an announcement on Sunday.

On a GoFundMe web page, Ryhley Mattison stated that she was amongst these injured within the assault.

Credit score…St. Croix County’s Sheriff’s Workplace

Deputies waded about 100 yards by way of waist-deep water to succeed in the victims, who have been additionally assisted by others within the river and emergency medical staff, Sheriff Knudson stated. Mr. Miu had left the scene and was taken into custody at an exit level for tubers, the sheriff’s workplace stated in an announcement.

Mr. Miu was with a gaggle of mates, together with his spouse, Sondra Dee Miu, based on paperwork. She informed the authorities that she and her husband had arrived on the river round 10:45 a.m., and that in some unspecified time in the future, he had left their group to attempt to discover “a member of their events’ cellphone that was misplaced.”

Ms. Miu informed the authorities that whereas her husband was in search of the cellphone, a gaggle of males obtained off their tubes and commenced to hit Mr. Miu, and that two members of her celebration had run towards Mr. Miu and the boys who have been combating. Ms. Miu stated that “all she heard was screaming” and that she didn’t see what occurred, paperwork say.

She informed the authorities that Mr. Miu had a knife in his pocket that was not very huge. “These guys grabbed it from him,” she stated, including that her husband had informed her {that a} group of individuals “have been calling him a pedophile and attacked him.”

After the stabbing, he ran again upriver and entered the woods, based on the grievance. The authorities arrested him after receiving studies at about 4:45 p.m. that witnesses had noticed him, paperwork say.

Jeremiah Harrelson, a public defender who represented Mr. Miu at Monday’s listening to, stated he couldn’t remark additional on the case as he was not representing him.

In an interview with Brandie Hart, a lieutenant with the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Workplace, Mr. Miu stated that he labored as a mechanical engineer, had bachelor’s levels in engineering and arithmetic, and that he had “by no means been in bother with the legislation earlier than.”

He stated that his actions have been an act of “self-defense” and that he had been in search of a misplaced cellphone which he believed was inside a “floater” — one of many baggage offered to tubers to stop valuables from sinking.

The group, he stated, had insulted him for being within the water along with his snorkel gear, calling him a “baby molester.”

“They attacked me,” he informed Lieutenant Hart, based on the grievance. “All the pieces occurred so quick.”

A preliminary listening to is ready for Aug. 12.

Vimal Patel contributed reporting.

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