Apple River stabbing trial continues with witness testimony Tuesday

HUDSON, Wis. — Day two of the trial for the deadly stabbing on the Apple River in Wisconsin gets underway Tuesday morning. 

Nicolae Miu is accused of killing a teen and injuring four others in July of 2022. 

The prosecution is trying to prove that Miu was the aggressor. They expect to call more than 40 witnesses to the stand. 

The defense is arguing Miu stabbed the five people in self-defense.   

The trial is scheduled to resume at 8 a.m. Tuesday. WCCO will have live coverage, which you can watch via CBS News Minnesota, Pluto TV or the CBS News app on your phone or connected TV.

Day one recap

Among the first witnesses was Ryan Nelson, the best friend of Isaac Schuman, one of the five people stabbed and the only person who died from his injuries.

Nelson said he was positive that Miu started the fight when he hit one of the victims.  

During an intense cross-examination, defense attorneys were quick to challenge Nelson’s memory of events.  

The prosecution also showed two cellphone video clips, less than four minutes in total, detailing much of what happened that day on the Apple River. 

In the first video, which is just nine seconds long, someone is heard saying Miu was “looking for little girls.” The defense was quick to note there were not little girls near him in the video.

In another three-and-a-half minute clip, Miu can be seen running towards the group of tubers and underlying audio can be heard indicating Miu was asked more than 20 times by the groups to go away.

Then the physical confrontation begins, with pushing and shoving and, ultimately, the stabbings. 

Legal expert Joe Tamburino, who’s not affiliated with the case, said now it’s up to both sides to call witnesses that will help give these clips context. 

“What they’re also going to point out is what led up to parts of the video,” Tamburino said. “You see at the beginning when the video is played, all we see is Mr. Miu basically running toward these young men and we don’t know why, and that’s where witness testimony will be very important so it can explain, where did he come from? Why was he coming near the young men? What was he saying, what was he doing? All of that’s not on the video.” 

Pauleen Le

Pauleen is a journalist with a passion for telling stories. Nothing makes her happier than talking to ordinary extraordinary people, and using beautiful pictures and solid writing to share their amazing stories with the world.