River Stabbing Suspect Reveals Why He Pulled Knife In Deadly Confrontation, Admits He 'Totally Lied' to Cops

The deadly incident went down at Apple River in August 2022, with victims and prosecutors claiming 54-year-old Nicolae Miu pulled a knife on a group during a confrontation on the water, which was captured on video. Miu, meanwhile, contends he was acting in self-defense after being surrounded and taunted by the "drunk" group.

Isaac Schuman, 17, was killed, while Ryhley Mattison, A.J. Martin, Dante Carlson and Tony Carlson were all injured. Miu faces one charge of first-degree intentional homicide for Schuman's death, as well as four counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide for the injured parties; he pleaded not guilty to the charges.

On Tuesday, prosecutors also won a bid for jurors to consider second-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide and second-degree reckless homicide charges for Schuman's death, while considering attempted second-degree homicide, first-degree recklessly endangering safety and second-degree recklessly endangering safety charges for the injured.

Taking the stand on Tuesday, Miu admitted he "lied" to police about the knife used in the altercation. During his interrogation, he told cops he took the knife from one of his attackers, but admitted on the stand that it was his pocketknife, which he brought with him to the river that day. He added he had no intent to harm anyone. He also stated that, at no point, did anyone in the other group pull a knife on him.

During his testimony, Miu claimed he was looking for his friend's cell phone, when a number of people from another group began shouting at him, "Grown man trying to have sex with little girls. What the hell! What the f--k! He's a raper!"

He was adamant he didn't say anything to the group other than saying he was looking for a lost cell phone. He denied ever telling the group he was "looking for little girls," as some of them have claimed, and said he began to walk away from them until he noticed someone with a phone. It's then he said he re-approached, admitting he "rushed" toward them before stumbling on his knees and onto their tubes, losing his googles and snorkel in the process. This too is different from what he told police, as he initially claimed the group had stolen his snorkel during the confrontation.

Miu then said he was told he had "10 seconds" to get away from them, but he "ignored" them. Eventually, two women -- Madison Coen and Ryhley Mattison -- approached him and told him to get away from the group as well. He claimed Coen pushed him against his shoulder and chest and was getting in his face, "yelling at me." Ryhley, he said, had one of her arms on him and was "squeezing and pushing me back."

It's then Miu said his heart rate and breathing began to get "really high" and he felt for his knife in his pocket. "With my left hand, I pushed [Madison] away from my face ... I felt threatened," he said, adding that he didn't mean to harm her and didn't think he made contact with her. The other group has claimed Miu punched Madison in the face, sparking their response.

"I felt frustrated. I felt annoyed. They kept saying it over and over. It annoyed me and frustrated me," said Miu, who claimed the group continued to accuse him of being a pedophile and "saying things that are not true." He admitted to "reaching for my pocketknife" because "my fear was getting really high and I was getting ready to pull it out."

Miu said he was then punched in the face, telling the court he took out his pocketknife because he was "surrounded" and "it seemed like they were not backing away." He said he was then pushed to the ground, recalling being hit in the head and not being able to get out of the water. Miu said he used his knife because he "feared for my life" -- and felt like he wouldn't be able to even get up. He also recalled someone grabbing him by the throat -- after some of the victims had been stabbed -- and said he "felt like I was going to die," so he "reached out and stabbed" Schuman.

When asked if he was trying to "kill somebody," Miu said, "Absolutely not. I was just trying to defend myself ... I believe I would have been killed that day,"  He also recalled having diarrhea during the incident.

As for why he "walked away" from the altercation, he said he retreated back to his group so he could "feel safe." He also admitted he "tossed" the knife on the riverbank while walking to his friends. As for why he threw it away, he said he was "afraid" and "overwhelmed with fear" and he "didn't want to have anything to do with it."

During cross-examination by the prosecution, they questioned why he was looking for the cell phone on the opposite side of the river, where the other group was. They also wondered why he took the knife with him to search for the cell phone -- with Miu saying he initially "forgot" it was in his pocket. The prosecution also threw doubt on Miu saying he "stumbled" onto the group's tubes and continued to ask him how "angry" he felt during the incident. He insisted he wasn't angry.

Prosecutors also said he appeared to be feeling for his knife in his pocket before going over to the group and seemed to be reaching for it again before the two women approached him. They pointed out how, in video of the incident, he was holding the knife outside of his pocket before any hits or punches had been thrown. Miu was also asked whether he made "physical contact" with Coen before he was punched. "I may have," he said, adding, "I don't know if I touched her or not. It's possible that I did."

When asked about A.J. Martin getting stabbed, Miu said it happened "at the same time he hit me in the throat" and claimed he didn't intentionally pull the knife "up" through Martin's torso, but was falling backwards when it happened. Regarding Tony Carlson's injuries, Miu said, "I couldn't see, I couldn't hear, I didn't know who was punching me, touching me, shoving me, nothing, I was fearing for my life. I had milliseconds to think."

Of Isaac Schuman, who died from his injuries, Miu said, "He went for my throat and I defended myself." He also acknowledged Dante Carlson wasn't fighting with him and hadn't punched him before being stabbed. "I thought he was attacking me," said Miu.

Prosecutors also reiterated how he changed his clothes after the incident and didn't speak with authorities at all after they arrived on the scene.

A longer version of the arrest video was then shown to court for the first time, in which Miu says he heard "somebody got stabbed and I fit the description," but not mentioning anything about his involvement. "Our whole group was pretty interested in finding out what happened," he told Sheriff Scott Knudson, adding that he didn't see anyone injured and only heard "people screaming at each other." He also said he was sure the other people were "drunk" and "kids being kids."

Prosecutors accused him of "fishing for information" while "pretending" he didn't know what happened and said he had four hours to come up with a "story" to cover his actions. Addressing the many inconsistencies between his comments about the situation during his interrogation and the video shown in court, Miu said he was "confused" -- and admitted, again, "I lied. I totally lied ... I don't even remember the interview."

When presented with the knife used during the confrontation, Miu confirmed, "That's the knife I used to defend myself with, yes."