A 54-year-old Minnesota man was convicted Thursday in the slaying of a high school student and stabbing of four other people who were tubing on a western Wisconsin river. A Wisconsin circuit court jury found Nicolae Miu guilty of first-degree reckless homicide, four counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, and one count of battery, Minnesota Public Radio reports. No sentencing date has been set. Isaac Schuman, 17, of Stillwater, Minnesota, was stabbed to death in late July 2022 while he and the other victims were tubing along the Apple River in St. Croix County, which sits along Wisconsin's state line with Minnesota. Three men and a woman were wounded.
Miu, of Prior Lake, Minnesota, attacked the group after people accused him of approaching children in the water, investigators said in court documents. Miu told investigators that he acted in self-defense. Miu was tubing down the river with his wife and several other people, according to a copy of a criminal complaint obtained by MPR. Miu told investigators that he was using a snorkel and goggles to look for a lost cellphone. Witnesses said Miu was bothering a group of juveniles and others told him to leave, the complaint stated.
Instead of leaving, Miu punched a woman and a fight ensued, according to the complaint. Video shows him falling into the river, emerging with a knife and then stabbing a person. Miu told investigators that he was provoked, according to the complaint. "They attacked me," he said. "I was in self-defense mode." Prosecutors argued that Miu had opportunities to defuse the situation or walk away. Defense attorney Aaron Nelson told reporters Thursday that he was surprised and "respectfully disappointed" by the verdict, the AP reports.
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