A St. Croix County jury convicted Nicolae Miu, involved in an incident on Apple River near Somerset Wis., of first degree reckless homicide, among other charges on Thursday, April 11.

And before that, Miu took the stand in his own defense on Tuesday, April 9.

For Miu, he’s been waiting to tell this story for almost two years and it may have been the most important four hours of his life.

Defense attorney Aaron Nelson began by addressing the alleged punch of Madison Coen and the issue of provocation.

Jawahn Cockfield’s video showed Miu being confronted by Madison Coen and Ryhley Mattison.

Miu testified that the women were “in his face,” swearing at him to go away and pointing down the river. He testified he felt frustrated and annoyed that Coen would not listen.

Miu told Nelson he could feel his heart rate rising, that he was experiencing tunnel vision and that the women were putting their hands on him, grabbing his arm without his “invitation.”

Miu admitted to having his knife open in his right hand.

“I pushed her away from my face,” Miu testified. Nelson asked, “Did you intend to hurt her?”

“Absolutely not,” Miu replied.

Nelson humanized his client by posting photos of him following his heart surgery in 2020 holding a large heart-shaped cushion and another holding his pet dog, “my angel.”

Miu told investigator Brandie Hart, he took the knife from one of the young tubers who attacked him.

On the stand, he told Nelson: “No, I lied about the knife.”

Miu reiterated that he approached the Schuman group looking for his friend’s missing phone, and that he thought they might have it. He claimed to have stumbled when he approached the tubers, causing him to lose his snorkel and grab onto the teens’ tubes.

Nelson asked, “Did you ever say you were looking for little girls?”

“Absolutely not. It's pathetic,” Miu answered.

Miu testified the tubers told him, “You have 10 seconds.”

As the group closed in, Mui testified he felt overwhelmed, anxious.

Nelson asked Miu about his comfort level and fear level before the punching began.

“I remember the young boys were yelling, pointing at me saying things that are not true, Miu testified. “I’m reaching for my pocket knife. My fear is getting really high.”

After he pushed Coen away with his left hand, Miu got punched and went down in the river.

He told Nelson his fear level was at 10 on a 10-point scale. “My head went under water,” Miu said. “I felt like I was submerged under water. I’m getting hit on the head.”

Miu thought he got hit four times at least.

“I tried getting up but I couldn't,” Miu testified, “I feared for my life.”

Nelson put up a frame showing Schuman with his hands on Miu’s neck.

“I felt like I was going to die,” Miu testified. “I reached out and I stabbed him.”

Nelson asked Miu if he was trying to kill someone?

“Absolutely not,” Miu said. ”I was just trying to defend myself.”

Miu testified he lost his bowel when he was getting hit.

Nelson asked Miu where his head was following the attack.

“I was completely confused,” Miu said. “I was in a fog.”

Miu told Nelson he tossed the knife on the bank on his way back to his group.

“I didn’t want to have anything to do with it,” Miu testified.

Back with his group Miu testified he could not remember what he said.

Nelson questioned Miu about what he told Hart about the days following the incident.

“I have nightmares,” Miu said. “I have them every night.”

On cross-examination, Smestad stuck to the prosecution’s plan of questioning why Miu approached the Schuman group, grabbed their tubes and said they took his snorkel when the video shows he dropped it.

Smestad continued his cross-examination by asking why Miu appeared to turn his back to the group of tubers but instead of walking away, turned back and re-engaged them.

“Why not leave?” Smestad asked.

Smestad asked Miu why he did not warn the group or show them he had a knife?

Smestad challenged the defense’s claim that it was 13 to one, noting that not all of the tubers engaged Miu.

Smestad continued his cross-examination by asking Miu why he left the river instead of going to law enforcement?

Smestad played the complete video of St. Croix County Sheriff Scott Knudson’s conversation, characterizing Miu as fishing for information and playing dumb about his actions on the river.

Smestad revisited Miu’s interview with Hart. He portrayed it as not just one lie but lie after lie about the snorkel, about boys in the other group pulling knives, pulling down his pants, about being hit by Coen.

Smestad accused Miu of conveniently not remembering facts when it suited his story.

He pointed out that despite his “poor health” Miu still managed to run up on the group of teen tubers.

Smestad concluded his cross-examination, claiming Miu acted out of anger, not self defense.

On recross-examination, Nelson reminded jurors that watching the video broken down frame-by-frame is nothing like making split second decisions and reacting in real time.

The defense rested its case at 3:47 p.m. on April 9.

Judge Waterman adjourned the jury for the day setting the stage for closing arguments to begin on Wednesday morning.

Medical Examiner testifies

The prosecution called Ramsey County’s Assistant Medical Examiner, Victor Froloff, and the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office Investigator, Brandie Hart, as their final two witnesses before resting their case against Nicolae Miu for first degree Intentional homicide of Isaac Schuman and the attempted first degree homicide of Rhyley Mattison, A.J. Martin, Dante Carlson and Tony Carlson and battery of Madison Coen.

Froloff testified to the findings from his autopsy of Schuman.

Assistant District Attorney Brian Smestad walked Froloff through the steps of his external and internal examination of Schuman’s body including the collection of trace evidence, DNA evidence and toxicology.

Forensic pathology investigation into the sudden and suspicious death of

Froloff determined the cause of Schuman’s death to be a deep, penetrating stab wound to Schuman’s left chest leading to his death by exsanguination.

Froloff determined the manner of his death to be homicide.

Smestad circulated a dozen photographs made by ME Froloff documenting his examination to the jurors.

Due to the graphic nature of the photos, Judge Michael Waterman cautioned jurors to “Consider as much as your senses allow.”

Froloff noted that the depth of the wound, 4.3 inches, exceeded the length of the wound, 3.9 inches and that he testified that the knife transected the rib cage with enough force to cut through two ribs and penetrate the pericardium causing injury to the apex of Schuman’s heart.

According to Froloff’s report, Isaac Schuman’s Blood Alcohol Concentration was 0.219 or nearly three times the legal limit in Wisconsin.

In his cross-examination, defense attorney Aaron Nelson questioned Froloff about scenarios that could have produced enough force to create such a deep wound.

Nelson suggested that the depth of the wound could have been the result of a body moving or falling forward into the knife and that the trajectory of the cut could have been the result of the “person holding the knife falling backward.”

Froloff responded that his examination was restricted to science and that there were “endless possibilities” for how the wound could have been made.

The prosecution called their final witness, St. Croix County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Brandie Hart to the stand.

The purpose for calling Hart to the stand was to introduce the entirety of her interview with Miu, recorded the night of the incident at the St. Croix County jail.

The interview documented that Miu was correctly Mirandized, going on to tell his version of what happened that afternoon on the river. Neither he nor Hart had seen the Cockfield video at the time of the interview.

Miu’s primary contentions were:

He “absolutely” did not have a knife, the knife was not his, that he took it from one of the attackers who had at least two knives among them; 

• It was self defense, a claim he reiterated numerous times during the interview;
• The tubers took his snorkel and tried to pull down his pants;
• That he was scared and feared for his life;
• That he was in shock and did not remember what happened after the attack;
• He thought the Schuman group might have the missing phone he was looking for;
• He did not know how he got away; and
• That he was not in the best of health due to a quadruple bypass in 2020.

Hart testified that she did not smell or detect any indication that Miu was impaired from the use of alcohol at the time of the interview.

During cross-examination, Hart agreed with defense attorney Corey Chirafisi, that in her experience, a suspect and victim’s memory can be impacted by the stress of a traumatic event and that that stress can linger depending on the individual.

Hart confirmed that Miu never wavered in his claim of self defense and that he believed from his point of view that he was attacked and had to defend himself.

Chirafisi argued that during the Hart interview, Miu never made a statement to contradict that he was in fear and never denied that he defended himself with a knife.

Chirafisi also acknowledged that Miu lied about how he got the knife.

On re-cross-examination, Smestad asked and Hart confirmed Miu had no marks or injuries indicating that he had been strangled or suffered other physical injuries in the confrontation and that he did not say anything about hearing anyone tell him that he had “10 seconds.”

Beside questioning the truthfulness of what Miu told Hart during the interview, Smestad questioned the sincerity of Miu’s story.

Near the end of the interview, Miu puts his head in his hands and said: “Now my whole life is down the tubes.”

Hart confirmed that at that moment she did not observe any tears.

Smestad suggested that Miu’s remorse was fabricated as were most of his answers to Hart's questions.

The state rested its case on April 9 at 10:51 a.m.