HUDSON, Wis. — A 54-year-old Minnesota man was found guilty Thursday of killing a high school student and stabbing four others who were tubing at a river in western Wisconsin.
A Wisconsin Circuit Court jury found Nicolae Miu guilty of first-degree reckless homicide, four counts of first-degree reckless endangerment and one count of assault, Minnesota Public Radio reported. did. No sentencing date has been set.
Isaac Schuman, 17, of Stillwater, Minnesota, was stabbed to death along with other victims while tubing along the Apple River in St. Croix County along the Wisconsin-Minnesota border in late July 2022. .
Two men from Luck, Wisconsin, a woman from Burnsville, Minnesota, and a man from Elk River, Minnesota were injured.
Miu, of Prior Lake, Minn., attacked the group after people accused him of approaching children in the water, investigators said in court documents. Miu told investigators that she acted in self-defense.
According to a copy of the criminal complaint obtained by Minnesota Public Radio, Miu was floating down the river with his wife and several other people.
Miu told investigators that she was searching for her lost cell phone using a snorkel and goggles. Bystanders accused him of approaching children in the water, according to video and witness accounts. Witnesses said Miu was harassing a group of boys and others told him to leave, the complaint states.
Instead of leaving, Miu punched the woman and a fight ensued, according to the complaint. The video shows him falling into the river, emerging with a knife and stabbing someone.
According to the complaint, Miu told investigators that she was “provoked.” “They attacked me,” he said. “I was in self-defense mode.”
Prosecutors had argued that Miu had the opportunity to diffuse the situation or leave.
Defense attorney Aaron Nelson told reporters Thursday that he was surprised and “respectfully disappointed” by the verdict. Mr Nelson said Miu was “sad and obviously disappointed in the outcome”. and ponders his future life. ”
Schuman was about to enter his senior year at Stillwater High School when he was killed. His family described him as an honors student preparing to apply to several universities to study electrical engineering.