The man who stabbed a group of teens in a Wisconsin river has described how he feared for his life after they ‘surrounded him like wolves.’
Nicolae Miu, 54, took to the stand on Tuesday on charges of first-degree intentional homicide over the attack in Apple River on July 30 2022.
The engineer attacked the group with a swiss army knife after they heckled him and taunted him with ‘pedophile’ chants.
When asked Tuesday about the violent confrontation that left 17-year-old Isaac Shuman dead from stab wounds to his chest, Miu said that he had ‘tunnel vison’ and was ‘in a fog’ during the heated situation.
He said that prior to the confrontation, he had ‘volunteered’ to look for a friend’s lost phone in the water before he interacted with the teenagers.
Nicolae Miu, 54, took to the stand on Tuesday on charges of first-degree intentional homicide over the attack in Apple River in July 30 2022
Miu of Prior Lake, Minnesota, claimed that his lethal stabbing was ‘self-defense’ after the group of tubers claimed that he was ‘looking for little girls in the Apple River
Isaac Shuman, 17, died after Miu stabbed him in his chest on July 30, 2022
As he was shown pictures from the day of the attack, Miu said that he was touched by Madison Coen and Ryhley Mattison, two girls in the teen group, before the knife was drawn.
He then said that as the interaction with the teens continued, his fear ‘crept up’ as they started to laugh and yell around him.
‘They were very close, they were really close to me. I could feel and hear them,’ Miu said.
Miu then described how he reached for his pocket knife as his fear got ‘really high’ just before Madison placed her hand on his upper arm.
His reasoning for having the knife on him was that he was told to bring it to use to ‘tie’ the ‘tubes together’ while he hung out on the river with friends.
‘I was surrounded, they were yelling, they had just pushed me, and it seemed like they were not backing away,’ Miu said on the stand.
Miu added that in ‘horror situation’ he was punched in the face by one of the teens and was pushed down in the water to ‘drown.’
In recorded interviews previously played in court, Miu said: ‘All of a sudden, they were like wolves around me and they were attacking me from all direction and I truly, truly, feared for my life.’
‘They came on to me. They hit me, they got on top of me, and I don’t remember anything after that.’
During his testimony, he said that he didn’t know how many people were attacking him but he knew that there were ‘more than he could handle’ and that he has had ‘nightmares’ since.
He was charged with first-degree intentional homicide after Shuman died and four others were injured. He was charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide for their injuries.
A witness, Larrion Davis later told investigators that he saw the attacker ‘taking pictures of girls’ in the area.
Witness Larrion Davis was grilled by accused murderer Nicolae Miu’s attorney over his claims that he saw him ‘taking pictures of little girls’ before the horror stabbing
Miu’s wife Sondra told detectives that the violent altercation began after Miu, whose group was farther up the river, went back to find a ‘phone that was lost’ while wearing snorkeling gear
However, as he took the stand last week, Davis appeared confused over this claim, and admitted he wasn’t sure what he saw because ‘there was a lot going on.’
Davis was questioned by Miu’s attorney over his statement to investigators during a March 2024 interview, almost two years after the attack took place.
‘You also said to the police, (Miu) came out of the bushes and he was taking pictures of little girls?’ the prosecutor asked.
‘Yes, I said that,’ Davis responded. When asked if he ‘saw that’, he responded, ‘I said that.’
‘I understand you said it, did you see it?’ they asked again.
Seemingly confused, Davis responded ‘Yes’, before the attorney asked him to clarify whether he witnessed Miu ‘with his camera that afternoon, taking pictures of little girls… that’s what you’re telling this jury?’
David responded: ‘Oh, no, no, no, that’s what I said.’
‘Like I said, I understand you said it, is it true?’ the attorney continued, to which David replied: ‘Oh, I don’t know.’
The attorney repeats the version of events again in an attempt to clarify his remarks, asking Davis: ‘That’s not true is it?’
At that point, Davis admits, ‘I guess so.’
On Monday, Owen Peloquin, 19, testified in court as he detailed the moment Miu attacked his friend group.
When asked about the violent confrontation Miu said that he had ‘tunnel vison’ and forgot what happened after the situation got heated
Video of the chilling moment showed a member of the group stumbling into the river while a pool of red water emerged around him
On Monday, Owen Peloquin, 19, testified in court as he detailed the moment Miu attacked his friend group
‘He just weirdly like sprinted at us, just made us all super uncomfortable,’ Peloquin said.
Peloquin was heard in the video saying ‘Yo, get away,’ but he said that Miu didn’t listen and instead grabbed onto their water tubes.
During his testimony, Peloquin said that he regretted calling Miu a ‘pedophile’ and wished that he and his friends acted differently that day.
When Shuman was attacked by Miu, Peloquin said that he didn’t see him get stabbed but rushed over to him and brought him to shore with his other friend Alex.
‘I tried my hardest to stop the bleeding,’ Peloquin said as he became visibly emotional.
Schuman was then taken in an ambulance to the Lakeview Hospital in Stillwater where he was pronounced dead.
As the witness testimony went on, Mui’s defense attorney showed pictures from the incident and questioned Peloquin’s reactions.
With his mouth wide open as he stood in the river, the teen said that he was in ‘pure shock’ when he saw the knife in Miu’s hand.
After that, pictures showed him step forward as a prosecutor asked him what he was doing. Peloquin said that he was reaching to grab Ryan Nelson, another friend of his that was in the group.
Chirafisi asked the teen: ‘Do you believe your actions there with the rest of your friends are taunting him?’
‘It could be considered that, yeah,’ Peloquin replied.
Ryhley Mattinson, A.J, Martin, Dante Carlson and Tony Carlson were the four other teenagers stabbed that day.
Mattinson had to have emergency surgery and when she arrived her blood alcohol level was at 0.09.
Ryhley Mattinson, A.J, Martin, Dante Carlson and Tony Carlson were the other four teenagers stabbed that day
During his testimony, he said that he didn’t know how many people were attacking him but he knew that there were ‘more than he could handle’ and that he has had ‘nightmares’ since
Carlson suffered penetrating trauma from his stab sounds and had to have a hernia repaired and his blood alcohol level was also 0.09.
During the first week of trial on April 1, the court reviewed a video that captured the intense moments leading up to and during the stabbing.
Miu was seen aggressively approaching the tubers, including the person recording, as they heckled him and laughed at him – telling him to ‘walk away.’
A woman then approached Miu ordering him to go away from the group, while one of the boys shouted ‘he was looking for little girls.’
The video then showed the group push Miu down into the water repeatedly and hit him while he scrambled to get up.
Members of the group then began to shout: ‘He hit a woman?’
The woman clutched her side in shock as blood began to pour out, and it became apparent that she had been stabbed.
Video then showed the chilling moment another member of the group stumbled into the river as a pool of red water emerged around him.
His reasoning for having the knife on him was that he was told to bring it to use to ‘tie’ the ‘tubes together’ while he hung out on the river with friends
Miu was originally born in Romania and immigrated to the US when he was a teenager. In 2020, he had a heart attack and quadruple bypass surgery
Chaos ensued as the group quickly dispersed. The cameraman screamed ‘this isn’t real’ as more blood stained the water.
The distressing footage then suddenly cut out.
Miu’s then wife Sondra told detectives that the violent altercation began after Miu, whose group was further up the river, went back to find a ‘phone that was lost’ while wearing snorkeling gear.
While he was looking, Sondra said a ‘group of guys got off their tubes and started hitting’ him.
Miu pleaded not guilty to the charges in September 2022 and his attorney’s have continued to argue that the man stabbed the teens in an act of self-defense.
He was originally born in Romania and immigrated to the US when he was a teenager.
Sondra and Miu got divorced since the incident and was ‘living a peaceful, quiet life in Minnesota’ and ‘had never been in trouble before.’
In 2020, he had a heart attack and quadruple bypass surgery.