Wisconsin: Charges expected today in fatal stabbing on Apple River

Mary Divine, Pioneer Press
·3 min read
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The man arrested in connection with Saturday’s fatal stabbing of a 17-year-old Stillwater boy and critically injuring four others on the Apple River in western Wisconsin is expected to make his first appearance Monday in St. Croix County Circuit Court in Hudson, officials said.

Criminal charges against a Prior Lake man are expected soon, St. Croix County Sheriff Scott Knudson said in a statement on Monday morning, adding that incident reports are being reviewed.

Nicolae Miu, 52, is being held without bail in St. Croix County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder, four counts of mayhem and four counts of aggravated battery.

Although Miu initially fled, the sheriff said he was located about a mile upstream some 90 minutes later after being spotted by witnesses. A cellphone photo taken around the time of the stabbings helped identify him.

The victims were tubing on the Apple River about 3:45 p.m. Saturday, about 100 to 200 yards upstream from the Highway 35/64 bridge in Somerset when the attack occurred.

Family members identified the 17-year-old boy as Isaac Schuman, a rising senior at Stillwater Area High School.

Isaac was an honor-roll student, his father, Scott, wrote in a Facebook post. “He was college bound and ran his own car and boat detailing business. He was an all-around amazing human being and was loved by everyone.”

Isaac was taken by ambulance to Lakeview Hospital in Stillwater, where he was pronounced dead.

The other victims, including a 24-year-old Burnsville woman, a 22-year-old Elk River man, a 20-year-old Luck, Wis. man and a 22-year-old Luck, Wis., man, were evacuated by air and ground ambulance to Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Knudson said. Their injuries ranged from critical to serious, the sheriff said, citing a number of torso wounds.

In a statement shared with KARE-11, Isaac was described as a “beloved son and brother” who “entered every room with a big smile, infectiously positive aura, and lifted everyone around him up.”

Isaac “was preparing to apply to several universities to pursue a degree in electrical engineering,” family members wrote. “He was an honor roll student at Stillwater High and had recently become very involved in golf and was planning to try out for the Pony golf team.”

Isaac owned and operated Spiff Mobile Detailing, working with customers in and around Stillwater, Bayport, Woodbury, Lake Elmo and White Bear Lake. “I personally started in 2020 detailing my family and friends’ vehicles as a hobby and began to love what I was doing,” he wrote in a post on the business website. “I collaborated with professional detailers and other detailing enthusiasts, which helped me gain a lot of knowledge about detailing.”

Family members said in the statement provided to KARE that he “was growing the business rapidly and becoming quite an impressive young entrepreneur. He was mature for his age and had a forward-looking mentality that was uncommon for a high school junior.

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“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,” according to the statement. “We very much appreciate the overwhelming outpouring of love and support from our friends, Isaac’s friends and the Stillwater community.”

SAHS Principal Rob Bach emailed families Sunday informing them of the death.

“The death of a classmate, even for those who didn’t know them well, will impact each student differently, and all reactions need to be addressed with great care and support. We encourage you to talk with your children about this sad news and help them to process their feelings,” he wrote.

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