Nicolae Miu takes stand in his defense on day 7 of Apple River stabbing trial
UPDATE (11:15 a.m. Thursday) — Nicolae Miu has been found guilty of multiple criminal charges, including homicide, in the 2022 Apple River stabbings in Wisconsin. Read the updated story here.
HUDSON, Wis. — Nicolae Miu testified in his defense after the prosecution rested its case in the Apple River stabbing trial Tuesday.
Miu, 54, stabbed five people on the river, killing 17-year-old Isaac Schuman and injuring four others. The victims ranged in age from 17 to 24 and were from Wisconsin and Minnesota.
The state seeks to prove Miu was the aggressor that day, while the defense is arguing he stabbed the five people in self-defense.
Miu is charged with first-degree intentional homicide in Schuman's death and attempted first-degree intentional homicide in the stabbings of Ryhley Mattison, A.J. Martin, Dante Carlson and Tony Carlson. He pleaded not guilty to all charges in September 2022.
WCCO will have live coverage throughout the trial which you can watch via the video player above, CBS News Minnesota, Pluto TV or the CBS News app on your phone or connected TV.
Medical examiner testifies
Victor Froloff, the assistant medical examiner for Ramsey County, was the first witness on the stand Tuesday.
The prosecution began by running through Froloff's credentials, including his 19 years in his current role and 39 overall years in the medical field.
Froloff performed the autopsy on Schuman.
Froloff said he noted a sharp force injury to Schuman's left chest during his external examination. When he examined Schuman internally, he reclassified it as a stab wound, saying that means "the depth of the wound exceeds the length of the wound on the skin."
The stab wound injured Schuman's ribs, left lung and heart, according to Froloff.
The prosecution then went through photographs taken during the autopsy. These photos were not shown in court, but paper copies were given to the witness and the jury.
While reviewing the photographs, Froloff noted two of Schuman's ribs were "transected" when a "weapon went through his ribcage."
Froloff said he performed a toxicology report, the results of which showed Schuman's blood alcohol content was 0.219. He found "no other substances or drugs" in Schuman's system.
Froloff determined the cause of Schuman's death was a stab wound to the left chest and his manner of death was homicide.
The defense asked Froloff to clarify that "homicide," in this instance, is not a legal term, to which he agreed. Miu's attorneys also noted that Schuman's BAC was more than twice the legal limit for operating a vehicle in Wisconsin.
A long line of questioning sought to explore the causes for the depth of Schuman's wound, including whether he was moving toward or falling into the weapon. While Froloff said he "never observed this incident" and there were "endless possibilities" about the causes, he did agree that the possibilities laid out by the defense were reasonable.
Brandie Hart testifies
Brandie Hart, a special services lieutenant with the St. Croix County Sheriff's Office, was next on the stand.
Hart interviewed Nicolae Miu and his then-wife after the stabbings.
The prosecution is playing a video recording of her interview with Miu.
In the video, after being read his Miranda rights, Miu began recounting the day to Hart. He repeatedly claimed self-defense, saying another group called him a "child molester."
"They started calling me names, they got off of their tubes, they came at me," Miu said.
He said he was "so fearful" and "went into self-defense mode."
Miu said two people pulled knives on him, and he took one of the knives.
"I poked him with his own hand and then I took it from his hand," Miu said. "I took the knife from one of the kids."
He also said he was "drinking beer all day."
"Of course, I had a lot of alcohol, who doesn't?" he said. He also said the other group — Schuman's group — was "too drunk."
Miu consented to a DNA sample during the interview, which Hart took at the end of the interview.
At one point during the interview, Hart told Miu four people went to the hospital and one person died.
"Oh no," Miu said. "Was that because they fought each other?"
He later said: "Now my whole life is down the tubes."
Miu asked Hart if they found the knives, to which she said she doesn't know.
"I'm glad I actually took that kid's knife. He would've stabbed me. He was not there to scare me, he was there to harm me," Miu said. "At least I'm here. But I'm sorry for what — how it ended up."
The defense's cross examination focused on Miu's mindset during the interview — whether he was under stress and if he was given an opportunity to calm down before the interview. Miu's attorneys also highlighted his comments about self-defense and fearfulness during the interview.
During cross, the defense admitted Miu's statements about how he got the knife were "inaccurate."
The defense tried several times to get Hart's assessment of Miu's claim he was surrounded before the stabbings, but never got a clear answer between objections.
The state then asked more questions, including whether Miu mentioned being strangled or threatened with the statement "You've got 10 seconds." Hart said he did not mention those things during his interview.
The defense asked her to clarify that just because he didn't mention them doesn't mean they didn't happen, to which she agreed.
Nicolae Miu takes the stand in his defense
Miu agreed to testify and took the stand late Tuesday morning in his defense.
The defense began by presenting a cell phone video of the altercation and asking Miu to set the scene for them. The video was stopped at the point where he was near the group that was confronting him.
Miu said the group was telling him to "go, go away," touching him and pushing him. He said he felt threatened at that point and agreed that he had a knife in his right hand.
Miu said he pushed away a woman who was close to his personal space and he felt threatened.
The defense went back to some background, showing pictures of Miu recovering from heart surgery. Miu briefly became emotional when talking about his dog, who he called "my baby" and "my angel." Miu said, due to the surgery and his weight, that his health was "very poor" on the day of the stabbings.
The defense asked Miu about the knife. Miu said he was asked to bring the knife to cut string while tubing down the river. He said he has it on him a lot, calling it his "Swiss army knife" and that he uses it "pretty much anywhere" because he's an engineer.
The defense asked Miu if he was being truthful when he talked about the knife with investigator Hart. To that, Miu replied, "I lied about the knife." He said that he had his knife on him when he went to look for the phone on the river.
Back to the events on the river, Miu said he was confronted by the group when he was out looking for the phone. He said they asked him what he was looking for and he said he was looking for a phone. He said they later began yelling at him that he was a "raper" and was trying to look for "little girls."
The defense asked if Miu ever told the group that he was looking for girls and Miu responded, "Absolutely not, that's pathetic."
Miu said he approached the group because he saw someone with a phone in a bag and wanted to see if that was the one his friend left. He said as he rushed up to see the phone he tripped and fell into one of the tubers.
Miu said at one point, he dropped his snorkel and goggles set, so he had to search around the group's tubes. He said the group told him "he has 10 seconds" to leave the area, but he ignored them. As he was searching for the snorkel and goggles, Miu said teenage boys began approaching him.
He said another group, who appeared to be adults, approached him and he tried to explain to one woman, Madison Coen, what he was looking for. He said Coen wasn't listening to him and was telling him to leave. Miu said he told her not to touch him, because she was "pulling on him" and trying to drag him down the river.
"She didn't even try to reprimand the children for yelling," Miu said.
As the group got even closer to him, Miu said he became more fearful and testified that he went for his pocket knife because he was worried. He said when they were pushing him and attacking him, he took it out. He clarified that he took out the knife before he was punched.
Miu testified that, on a scale of one to 10, his fear level was at a two or three just before he took his knife out of his pocket.
Miu said he didn't turn away from the group because they were too close to him.
Court breaks for lunch
After a lunch break, the defense picked up right before the altercation began on the river.
Miu said he pushed Coen to get her out of "his space" and he didn't feel safe turning his back to the group. He said, almost immediately after pushing Coen, he was punched in the face.
He said he was "stunned" and fell back into the water, hitting his head on river rocks. Miu said, at that point, his fear scale was "right at the top" at a 10. He said he's never been in a situation like this or a fight in his life.
He said he tried to get up but he felt people pushing him down and also felt something hit his head. He said it felt like 10 people were restraining him.
Miu said he used his knife in response because he feared for his life. The defense asked if he thought he could get away without using his knife, and he responded in the negative.
"I couldn't even get up. They were pushing me down, so the answer is no," Miu said.
He said, after using the knife, that people stopped attacking him and he then walked away. He told the defense that he wasn't trying to kill anybody — we was trying to defend himself.
Miu said he hurt all over the next day, including his head, neck, throat and back. Miu said, after seeing video of the attack, he understood why his throat hurt, because he was choked.
He described his bodily response, saying that his heartbeat was high, and his head was in a fog. He added that he was afraid and felt that he had to throw his knife away.
When he returned to his friends, he said his head was in a thick cloud, and he couldn't understand what happened. He didn't recall being told that he was arrested for homicide, Miu said.
Cross-examination begins
The prosecution then started cross-examination, asking why Miu chose to go toward a crowd of people to look for the phone. He said he wasn't angry that someone called him a "raper," and when Coen came up to him, his "anger scale" was at a one out of 10. That's when he started fidgeting with his knife in his pocket, he said.
The prosecution then started asking about the victims, and Miu's movements during the stabbings. During this testimony, Miu said that Ryhley Mattison had her hands on him, which is why Miu stabbed her.
When Schuman approached, Miu agreed that he stabbed the teenager in the heart as soon as he was touched.
"He went for my throat, and I defended myself," Miu said. The prosecution showed screenshots that demonstrated that Miu's arm was cocked and the knife was in his hand when Schuman's hands were on his shoulder.
Miu acknowledged that even though he told police that the group was armed, no one else had a knife.
He also said he waved for help from his friends, but the prosecution pointed out that Ariel Chaguez-Leyet was in the vicinity by the time he stabbed Tony Carlson and Isaac Schuman. He added that Tony Carlson never touched him, but he attempted to stab him twice. The first stab was blocked, so he stabbed Tony Carlson again, Miu agreed.
Miu also agreed that he didn't call for help while he was stabbing the victims. When the prosecution asked, Miu added that Dante Carlson was not fighting when he stabbed him.
After another break, the prosecution continued their cross-examination by asking Miu what happened after the stabbings occurred.
Miu said he doesn't remember if anyone from his group went to help. He said he then went back to the group, where he put on his hat, shirt and sunglasses.
Miu said he saw emergency personnel along the river and said he was afraid to go to the area where police were.
Miu said he was "afraid of everybody" because he was in shock. The prosecution asked if he was afraid of police, but he said he didn't remember. He said it was all a blur, that he remembered being stopped by police, but doesn't remember the details.
The prosecution showed video of Miu's arrest and him asking police what happened. When asked by defense if he was "fishing for information," Miu said he didn't remember.
Once again, Miu said that he lied in an interview with investigator Hart when he was talking about the knife. The prosecution said he "lied on top of lies," including that the boys tried to pull down his shorts and that they grabbed his goggles and threw them.
Miu agreed that he "totally lied" about the knife, but doesn't remember his talk with Hart.
The prosecution continued to note things that Miu didn't tell police, but testified about in the trial, including that he was choked and felt afraid because of it. Miu reiterated that he didn't remember the interview with Hart.
The prosecution showed Miu his pocket knife, saying "that's the knife you used to stab these people." To that, he responded, "that's the knife I used to defend myself, yes."
The defense then asked if Miu felt he was fit enough to take on 13 adults and teenagers in a fight, to which Miu said "no." Miu added that he was very confident in the accuracy of his feelings.
Court wrapped up on Tuesday shortly before 4 p.m.
Day 6 recap
The second week of the trial began with testimony from 19-year-old Owen Peloquin, who was on the river with Schuman that day and said he was Schuman's best friend. Peloquin said Miu made his group "super uncomfortable" and that he heard Miu say "something about little girls." The defense contended that interview records show Peloquin did not tell police Miu said he was looking for "little girls." But Peloquin said that's what he remembered.
Dr. Brian Myer, a trauma surgeon working at Regions Hospital in St. Paul on the day of the stabbings, testified about the extent of the injuries. Myer said Martin's injury stood out to him because he's never had a patient with that large of a penetrating wound before.
Nurse Ashley Hoffman testified about examining Miu following the stabbings. She said he reported getting hit in the back and the back of his head, but did not have any pain in those areas. She also said she could not find anything that suggested he had been choked or hit in the face.
Lead investigator John Shilts took the stand to talk about the investigatory process. After that, two previous witnesses returned to the stand — St. Croix County Sgt. Benjamin Trebian and detective Carlos de la Cruz of the New Richmond Police Department. Legal expert Joe Tamburino, who is unaffiliated with the case, told WCCO the prosecution was using these witnesses to attempt to discredit previous testimony from members of Miu's party.
In a somewhat unusual move, the defense was allowed to call witnesses Monday afternoon because none of the prosecution's remaining witnesses were available. St. Croix County investigator Andrew Dittman, bystander Roberto Baldazo and Miu's friend Amanda Torres all took the stand for the defense.