Man convicted on lesser charges in stabbings at Wisconsin river

A man charged with stabbing five people during a July 2022 river tubing excursion in Wisconsin has been found guilty on lesser charges.

Nicolae Miu, 54, was convicted in state court on Thursday of first-degree reckless homicide in the death of 17-year-old Isaac Schuman near the Apple River. He was also convicted of four counts of recklessly endangering safety and one count of battery.

Miu originally faced the more serious charges of first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree intentional attempted homicide.

In addition to fatally stabbing Schuman, Miu was convicted of wounding A.J. Martin, Dante Carlson, Tony Carlson and Rhyley Mattison, along with punching Madison Coen in the face.

The attack started with an “unanticipated random encounter” between Miu and the victims, according to the criminal complaint. Miu told investigators he stabbed the victims in self-defense after they stole his property and attacked him. Miu was arrested an hour-and-a-half later.

“We’re relieved with the verdict,” said St. Croix County District Attorney Karl Anderson. “As anyone can see in this case, it’s absolutely tragic at so many levels.”

Miu’s defense attorney, Aaron Nelson, said he was “surprised, respectfully disappointed” by the verdict.

Miu’s bond was revoked after the guilty verdicts. A date for sentencing was not set on Thursday.

Authorities said Miu was tubing on the river with his wife and friends when they were separated as he was searching for a lost cell phone.

The original criminal complaint stated Miu had brandished a knife when two females confronted him before a physical altercation broke out.

One victim told investigators she was punched by Miu in the face, which gave way to a physical struggle as a male punched Miu and the group then pushed Miu, who fell into the water. Miu said he couldn’t remember anything after people hit him and got on top of him until he ran back to his wife, according to the complaint.

Correction: A previous version of this story had an incorrect last name for the victim. His name was Isaac Schuman.

CNN’s Jarrod Wardwell contributed to this report.