Nicolae Miu sentenced to 20 years in prison for stabbings at Apple River

The Prior Lake man whose violent response during a confrontation with a group of Apple River inner-tubers left a 17-year-old boy dead and four other people stabbed will spend the next two decades in prison.

Nicolae Miu, 54, will be in his early 70s when he’s released from a Wisconsin prison. St. Croix County District Court Judge R. Michael Waterman handed down the sentence Wednesday in a Hudson courtroom, giving Miu 20 years for killing 17-year-old Isaac Schuman, a Stillwater High School student.

“It’s hard to put into words how graphic and horrific this was,” Karl Anderson, the St. Croix County district attorney, said before the judge handed down the sentence. Prosecutors had asked for 70 years, and Schuman’s family had hoped for a longer sentence too, but Wisconsin law grants judges broad discretion in sentencing decisions, and does not have guidelines for homicide cases.

Cellphone video of the melee, captured by one of Schuman’s friends, showed a chaotic scene as Miu lunged at Schuman and his friends, knife in hand. Miu’s attorneys argued he acted in self-defense. He had testified that he encountered the group of young people while searching for the lost cellphone of a person in his inner-tubing group, and that he grew fearful when some began to taunt him.

Waterman said his decision reflected the jury’s conclusion that Miu was not acting in self-defense but also that he did not intend to stab his victims. Miu was convicted at his April trial of reckless homicide and endangerment.

“The court sentence must show that it was reckless and not intentional,” Waterman said.

In addition to the 20-year term, Waterman sentenced Miu to five years each for the other four people he stabbed. Those terms will be served concurrently. Miu also gets credit for nearly two years already spent behind bars, meaning he’ll be released when he’s 72. He’ll remain under extended supervision for six years after that.

Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom after the sentence came down, Scott Schuman, Isaac’s father, said he had been hoping for a longer prison term for Miu, but was glad that the process was over.

“I feel justice has been served,” Schuman said.

Wearing prison orange and with his hands and feet shackled, Miu arrived at the hearing at 8:30 a.m., and the proceedings began with victim impact statements.

Isaac’s mother, Alina Hernandez, led off.

“I think about Isaac all day, every day,” Hernandez said. “Losing Isaac, my baby, has devastated me and shattered my heart.”

Hernandez asked Waterman for the maximum possible sentence for Miu. “He has no remorse. He plays the victim. It makes me nauseous,” Hernandez said. “Judge, I ask you to sentence him to the fullest.”

Miu addressed the court before the sentencing. He told Schuman’s parents he was very sorry.

“My soul is broken; my heart is very heavy,” Miu said. “I never meant for this tragedy to occur.”

Miu stood as he spoke, stumbling slightly when the ankle shackles limited his movement. His attorney directed him to address the judge, but he first turned to quickly acknowledge Schuman’s parents, seated behind him and to his left.

Miu had faced a maximum sentence of more than 100 years in prison on his conviction of reckless homicide, additional counts of reckless endangering safety for stabbing the four others, and additional charges.

Anderson, the lead prosecutor, recounted Miu’s decisions after the attack — throwing his knife onto the riverbank, not calling 911, putting on a hat, shirt and sunglasses, and initially acting like he didn’t know what happened when Sheriff Scott Knudson asked him.

Miu’s attorney Aaron Nelson said the defense understands and appreciates the “heartbreaking loss” of the Schuman family and other victims. He asked the court for a “measured response” in its sentence.

“Vengeance is not something that any of us should aspire to or aspire others toward,” Nelson said. “Justice is different than vengeance.”

Anderson also argued that Miu lacked remorse, relating how, in a recorded prison phone call with his brother, he described the teenagers as “bastards.” Nelson countered that the men were speaking in Romanian and that the translation was off. The word Miu used was “unfortunates,” Nelson said.

The sentencing comes just one day after the two-year anniversary of the crimes, which took place on a late-July Saturday in 2022 at a popular summer destination for residents of the Twin Cities and the region.

During the sentencing hearing, Waterman recounted the painful testimony of Schuman’s parents and loved ones, and then turned to Miu and his own life history. Miu’s family fled Romania when he was young, and Waterman noted that he went on to learn English, become an American, educated himself and built a career as an engineer. He had no serious criminal record prior to the Apple River incident.

“There is a lot more to Mr. Miu than what he did on July 30,” Waterman said. He said he believed Miu’s apology to the Schuman family was sincere.

During their time addressing the court, Schuman’s parents said the family had been shattered. Donny Hernandez, Schuman’s stepfather, said he was blessed to raise the boy as his son. He said the loss has been “indescribable.”

“His passing has left a deep and painful void in my family,” Scott Schuman said. “I wake up every day with a profound sense of loss and sadness. Simple tasks that once brought me joy now seem meaningless.”