Nicolae Miu, the 52-year-old accused of fatally stabbing 17-year-old Isaac Schuman and injuring several others July 30 on a western Wisconsin river, pleaded not guilty Thursday at an arraignment in St. Croix County Circuit Court.
Miu, wearing an orange prisoner's outfit, appeared before Judge Michael Waterman via a video link from the county jail, where he is being held in lieu of $1 million cash bond.
The Prior Lake man is charged with first-degree homicide and four counts of attempted first-degree homicide in the death of Schuman and injuries to four others during a confrontation on the Apple River, a popular tubing spot.
Miu is represented by attorney Corey Chirafisi, who won high-profile acquittals for Kyle Rittenhouse on all charges in November after the teenager testified he acted in self-defense in the summer of 2020 when he fatally shot two people during civil unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
In a hearing last week, Chirafisi laid out a self-defense claim for Miu, asking St. Croix County Sheriff's Lt. Brandie Hart if, according to witness accounts or a bystander's video, Miu attacked anyone before the confrontation with other tubers. Hart said no. Chirafisi then asked if Miu was responding to people attacking him, to which Hart said yes.
In response to prosecutor's questions, Hart said Miu could have walked away from the encounter, an important distinction in self-defense cases. She also said there was no evidence that anyone confronting Miu had a knife.
Waterman set the next hearing in the case for Nov. 1.
