A deadly stabbing at a bucolic Midwest tubing spot over the weekend all began with a lost phone and the suspect turned violent over taunts of being a “child molester,” according to a criminal complaint obtained by The Daily Beast.
But 52-year-old Nicolae Miu’s claims of having acted in self-defense were largely undercut by video filmed by a witness as well as his own wife’s version of events, the complaint reveals.
“I don’t know why they were being so mean,” Miu allegedly told detectives.
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Miu was arrested without incident at around 5:15 p.m. Saturday by deputies from the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office, some 90 minutes after the terrifying assault along Wisconsin’s Apple River that killed a 17-year-old high school student and left four others seriously wounded.
The teen who was killed was identified by his family as Isaac Schuman, who was about to enter his senior year at Stillwater High School.
Miu, who lives in Prior Lake, Minnesota, and works as an engineer for an HVAC supply company in Minneapolis, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, mayhem, and aggravated battery with intent to cause great bodily harm, according to booking records. He appeared in court on Monday afternoon, via video link.
His wife, Sondra—who also goes by Sandi and was nearby but not present during the deadly encounter—hung up the phone when contacted by The Daily Beast on Monday.
It all began with a lost phone, according to the complaint.
Sondra Miu told detectives that a member of their tubing party had dropped their phone in the water so her husband had donned snorkeling gear and gone off to look for it. She said when Miu returned, he told her that a group of young people nearby had started calling him a “pedophile,” and that they had grabbed a pocketknife from him and attacked him.
Miu had the knife clipped to the pocket of his trunks, according to Sondra.
“Sondra stated that by the time the police were coming she observed what she thought was someone was getting CPR performed on him,” the complaint continues. “Sondra stated that she didn’t think Nicolae was there long enough to harm anyone and estimated for about five minutes.”
But witnesses told police a different story, which was apparently backed up by a bystander’s footage.
They told cops that Miu had been bothering a group of young tubers, prompting them to yell for help from another passing group. Miu then began “punching or slapping” a young woman later identified as 24-year-old Ryhley Mattison. Another member of the group then struck Miu, who fell backward into the river, according to the complaint.
That’s when Miu pulled out a three-inch folding blade and began “stabbing multiple individuals who were near him,” it says.
The next day, police reviewed the video, which allegedly showed a shirtless Miu run up to the group and grab their tubes.
As they told Miu to get away, he began to leave, then turned around and said something while pointing at the tubers, the complaint says. He then started toward Mattison, who “appears to be pointing down river and telling [Miu] to go away.”
More people started to converge on Miu, and people can be heard in the footage saying that Miu “was looking for little girls,” according to the complaint. At least one person “touched [Miu’s] shoulder,” states the complaint, but police nevertheless allege Miu had ample “opportunity... to leave the confrontation.”
At this point, two young women approached Miu, who pulled the knife from his pocket and flicked open the blade, the complaint says.
Miu can be seen falling into the water and is slapped in the face by someone, according to the filing.
“While this is happening the video shows [Miu] is holding a small silver bladed knife with the blade erect,” it says. “[Miu] appears to be getting back to his feet and is shoved in the back by an individual wearing yellow swimming trunks. [Miu] then begins emerging from the water with the knife in his right hand. While doing so the induvial [sic] in the yellow swimming trunks appears to be advancing to shove [Miu] again. While doing so, [Miu] stabs the individual in the yellow swimming trunks in the abdomen while being shoved back into the water on his back.”
Miu then “turns and extends his arm in a stabbing motion,” after which a “female in a two-piece flower swimsuit [can be seen] with [an] open wound on the left side of her torso.”
As he backed away, the knife in Miu’s hand could be seen covered in blood, according to the complaint.
The video then captured Miu running off upriver and wounded individuals lying in the water. “There was enough blood in the river that the water turned a red tint in places,” the complaint says.
When deputies arrived on the scene, witnesses provided them with a description and image of Miu. He was eventually spotted wearing a camouflage shirt and shorts and was arrested.
In an interview with detectives, Miu, who has degrees in mechanical engineering and mathematics, immediately claimed self-defense, the complaint states.
Miu said he had been attacked by the tubers, who “produced two weapons,” but said he didn’t remember anything after that.
“Nic told me that he was ‘so fearful’ for his safety and wasn’t sure what the people on the river were going to do to him,” the complaint says.
He claimed the group took his snorkel away and that one person tried to pull down his swim trunks. As he “grabbed onto” the supposed culprit, Miu said two members of the group pulled knives on him. He claimed he then took one of the knives away and turned it back on the group, contrary to evidence from both his wife and the bystander footage.
“Nic told me that he’d never been in a situation like this before where a group of people produced weapons and called him a ‘child molester.’ Nic told me that as the group was calling him a ‘child molester,’ he remembered telling the group that if he was [a] child molester, and they were children, they shouldn’t be drinking alcohol,” the complaint says.
When he returned to his party, he told his wife and friends that “nothing” had happened, the complaint says. Miu told investigators it was because he was in “shock” and didn’t know what to say because he’d had his “ass kicked” by a “bunch of kids.”
When detectives told Miu that one of the tubers had died and four others were seriously hurt, he said, “Oh no,” and asked how it had happened.
“[Miu] then put his head in his hands and said, ‘Oh my god,’” the complaint states. “[Miu] said his whole life was ‘down the tubes.’ [Miu] said he was sorry for how this ended up.”
Miu’s online activity provides something of a window into his personal world. On Friday, just one day before he allegedly murdered a teenager, Miu shared a pro-gun meme on his Facebook page, accusing “communist [sic]” at the social media platform of “covering it up and deleting.”
Another shows similar support for the 2nd Amendment, insisting that “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.”
The day after Valentine’s Day 2019, Miu posted a glowing appreciation to his wife, who he said had gifted him a semiautomatic handgun and dozens of rounds of ammunition in a heart-shaped box for the holiday.
“Big thanks to my wonderful wife!” he wrote. “I love my present! Happy Valentine’s day to you too!”
Miu also seems to enjoy the water, posting happy snaps from a July 21 outing to Prior Lake in Minnesota. His Facebook likes include, among others, a group called “I Support Donald Trump,” a Blue Lives Matter page, and one called “Attractive Chicks.”
The four injured victims, aged 22 to 24, were taken to the hospital with multiple stab wounds ranging from serious to critical. They were all reportedly considered to be stable on Monday. Schuman, however, was pronounced dead at Lakeview Hospital in Stillwater, Minnesota.
“He had an incredibly bright future ahead of him and we are all heartbroken and devastated beyond words that his future has been tragically and senselessly cut short,” the Schuman family said in a statement to local NBC affiliate KARE 11. “We very much appreciate the overwhelming outpouring of love and support from our friends, Isaac’s friends and the Stillwater Community.”
Mattison created a GoFundMe campaign Monday morning from her hospital bed, asking for donations to defray her medical costs.
“Some friends and I were tubing when we came [across] a group who were asking for our help,” the fundraiser says. “My friends and I went over to see what was going on and there was an older man there being inappropriate and was asked to leave but wouldn’t. The older man ended up having a knife and stabbed a few friends of mine and myself included. I’m starting this go fund me because I currently lost my job and I have no way of paying for these medical bills and I’m struggling making ends meet right now.”
Reached by phone, Mattison told The Daily Beast that she was “really exhausted” after the ordeal, but that she would share more later.
In comments to the Daily Mail, she said she and her friends had stopped to assist a group of kids “who looked uncomfortable.”
“There was an older man with them, so we stopped our tubes,” Mattison recalled. “The guys went over to see what was going on and then a few of my girlfriends and I also went over. They explained that this older guy was asking these younger boys if they knew younger women or could get him the numbers of some younger women. It was creepy.”
Mattison said she didn’t remember exactly what sort of words were exchanged, but that Miu suddenly hauled off and punched one of her friends in the face.
“I don’t know if I then said something to make him more upset, but then I remember him turning and staring at me and he put his hand down by my stomach,” she said. “He looked like he was going to punch me. I said to my friend I think he punched me, and, ‘Oh my god, that hurt.’ I looked down and I was bleeding out because he stabbed me. After that, I just remember us trying to get away.”
Speaking to Twin Cities ABC affiliate KSTP, witness Kemany Coleman said Miu was “pushing people” before pulling out his blade.
“It was crazy,” Coleman told the outlet.
At a news conference on Saturday, St. Croix County Sheriff Scott Knudson called the attack “chaotic” and “scary,” and said the area hadn’t seen a crime like this in at least a decade and a half.
Miu appeared in court via Zoom Monday in an orange jail uniform as some of his alleged victims sat in the courtroom gallery with their families. Mattison watched via video hookup from her hospital bed.
Miu met with a public defender before his court appearance but earns too much money to qualify, the judge said. However, he asked the attorney to represent Miu until he can retain his own counsel.
Miu’s attorney told the judge that the “unanticipated random encounter on the river” was “an unfortunate one.”
“The court certainly I’m sure has read the facts of the complaint,” he said. “This is not a situation where there’s been premeditation for months or weeks or former contact with the victims or some prior grudge that lead Mr. Miu to devise a plan for killing or injuring any of them. This is a case where something went wrong in the encounter on the river and escalated, resulting in some very unfortunate consequences.”
Prosecutors requested a $500,000 cash bond and “absolute sobriety.” The defense asked for $50,000 and an ankle monitor.
The judge set bond at $1 million and ordered Miu to wear a device that will test his blood alcohol levels at least four times a day. The GPS monitor will alert authorities if Miu travels within half a mile of any of the victims’ homes. If convicted, he faces life in prison.
The Apple River is a popular spot about an hour east of Minneapolis. Outfitting companies that rent equipment to day-trippers set out rules including, “No littering,” “Respect other tubers,” and "No unlawful behavior.”
“Yesterday was a difficult and tragic day on the river,” River’s Edge Campground posted on Facebook. “For more than a half century, the Apple River has been known for its beautiful setting and summer fun. Tens of thousands of visitors annually—millions in total—have enjoyed floating the river with family and friends. Yesterday, an act of violence shattered that serenity. The River’s Edge family is saddened by this senseless act, and our hearts go out to those affected and their families and friends.”
