The man who stabbed a group of teenagers in a Wisconsin river described how he feared for his life after they “surrounded him like wolves.”
Nicolae Miu, 54, took the stand Tuesday charged with first-degree intentional homicide for the attack in Apple River on July 30, 2022.
The engineer attacked the group with a knife after they interrupted 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 the chest, Miu said she had “tunnel vision” and forgot what happened after the situation became heated.
He said that before the confrontation, he was searching for a friend’s lost phone in the water before interacting with the teens.
On Tuesday, Nicolae Miu, 54, who attacked the group with a knife after they interrupted him and taunted him with “pedophile” chants, described how he acted in “self-defense.”
Miu of Prior Lake, Minnesota, claimed her fatal stabbing was “self-defense” after the tuber crew claimed she was “looking for girls in the Apple River.”
Isaac Shuman, 17, died after Miu stabbed him in the chest on July 30, 2022.
While being shown photographs from the day of the attack, Miu said Madison Coen and Ryhley Mattison, two girls in the group of teens, touched him before the knife was pulled out.
He then said that as the interaction with the teens continued, his fear “increased” when they began laughing and shouting around him.
‘They were very close, they were very close to me. “I could feel them and hear them,” Miu said.
Miu then described how she reached for her pocket knife when her fear became “really high” right before Madison put her hand on her arm.
“They surrounded me, they were screaming, they had just pushed me and they didn’t seem to back down,” Miu said on the stand.
In recorded interviews played earlier in court, Miu said: “Suddenly, they were like wolves around me and attacking me from all directions and I really, really, feared for my life.”
‘They approached me. They hit me, they jumped on me and I don’t remember anything after that.’
He was charged with first-degree intentional homicide after Shuman died and four other people were injured. He was charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide for his injuries.
A witness, Larrion Davis, later told investigators that he saw the attacker “taking pictures of girls” in the area.
Witness Larrion Davis was questioned by accused killer Nicolae Miu’s lawyer over her claims she 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 upriver, returned and found a “phone that was lost” while wearing snorkel gear.
However, when he took the stand last week, Davis seemed confused by this claim and admitted he wasn’t sure what he saw because “there was a lot going on.”
While taking the stand, Miu’s attorney questioned Davis about her claims to investigators during an interview in March 2024, nearly two years after the attack occurred.
‘Did you also tell the police that (Miu) came out of the bushes and was taking pictures of little girls?’ the prosecutor asked.
“Yes, I said that,” Davis responded. When asked if she “saw that,” she replied, “I said that.”
‘I understand you said it, did you see it?’ they asked again.
Seemingly confused, Davis responded “Yes,” before the lawyer asked him to clarify whether he saw Miu “with her camera that afternoon, taking pictures of little girls… that’s what you’re telling the jury?”
David replied: ‘Oh, no, no, no, that’s what I said.’
‘Like I said, I understand you said it, is it true?’ the lawyer continued, to which David replied, ‘Oh, I don’t know.’
The attorney repeats his version of events again in an attempt to clarify his comments and asks Davis, “That’s not true, is it?”
At that point, Davis admits, “I guess so.”
On Monday, Owen Peloquin, 19, testified in court and detailed the moment Miu attacked his group of friends.
When asked about the violent confrontation, Miu said she had “tunnel vision” and forgot what happened after the situation became heated.
Video of the chilling moment showed a member of the group stumbling towards the river as a pool of red water emerged around them.
On Monday, Owen Peloquin, 19, testified in court and detailed the moment Miu attacked his group of friends.
“Just, strangely, running towards us, it made us all feel very uncomfortable,” Peloquin said.
In the video, Peloquin was heard saying ‘Hey, back off,’ but he said Miu didn’t listen and instead held on to her water tubes.
During his testimony, Peloquin said he regretted calling Miu a ‘pedophile’ and wished he and his friends would act differently that day.
When Shuman was attacked by Miu, Peloquin said he didn’t see him being stabbed, but ran over to him and took him to shore with his other friend Alex.
“I did my best to stop the bleeding,” Peloquin said, visibly emotional.
Schuman was then taken by ambulance to Lakeview Hospital in Stillwater, where he was pronounced dead.
As the witness’ testimony progressed, Mui’s defense attorney showed photographs of the incident and questioned Peloquin’s reactions.
With his mouth wide open while in the river, the teenager said he was in “pure shock” when he saw the knife in Miu’s hand.
After that, footage showed him stepping forward as a prosecutor asked him what he was doing. Peloquin said he was trying to grab Ryan Nelson, another friend of his who was in the group.
Chirafisi asked the teenager: ‘Do you think your actions there with the rest of your friends are making fun of him?’
“It could be considered so,” replied Peloquín.
Ryhley Mattinson, AJ, Martin, Dante Carlson and Tony Carlson were the other four teenagers stabbed that day.
Mattinson had to undergo emergency surgery and when he arrived his blood alcohol level was at 0.09.
Ryhley Mattinson, AJ, Martin, Dante Carlson and Tony Carlson were the other four teenagers stabbed that day.
Miu was charged with first-degree intentional homicide after Shuman was killed and four other people were injured. He was charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide for his injuries.
Carlson suffered penetrating trauma from the sounds of his stab wound and had to have a hernia repaired and his blood alcohol level was also 0.09.
During the first week of the trial, on April 1, the court reviewed video that captured the intense moments before and during the stabbing.
Miu was seen aggressively approaching the tubers, including the person filming, as they interrupted him and laughed at him, telling him to “back away.”
Then a woman approached Miu ordering her to get away from the group, while one of the boys shouted ‘he was looking for girls’.
The video then showed the group pushing Miu into the water repeatedly and punching him as he struggled to get up.
The members of the group then began to shout: ‘Did he hit a woman?’
The woman clutched her side in shock as blood began to gush and it became apparent that she had been stabbed.
The video then showed the chilling moment another member of the group fell into the river as a pool of red water emerged around them.
Chaos ensued as the group quickly dispersed. The cameraman yelled “this isn’t real” as more blood stained the water.
The distressing images were suddenly cut off.
Miu’s then-wife, Sondra, told detectives that the violent altercation began after Miu, whose group was upriver, returned and found a “phone that was lost” while wearing snorkel gear.
As he watched, Sondra said, “a group of guys got off the tubes and started beating him.”
Miu pleaded not guilty to the charges in September 2022 and his lawyers 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 United States when he was a teenager.
Sondra and Miu have been divorced since the incident and were “living a peaceful and quiet life in Minnesota” and had “never been in trouble before.”
In 2020, he suffered a heart attack and quadruple bypass surgery.