Charges filed in St. Louis County Croix against Nicolae Miu, of Prior Lake, include one count of first-degree intentional homicide and four additional counts of attempted first-degree murder. The five victims range in age from 17 to 24 and were from Wisconsin and Minnesota. Investigators say the five victims have stab wounds to their waists. Two have since been released from hospital, but one of them died as a result of his injuries. Authorities said the dead victim is a 17-year-old boy from Stillwater. A spokesman for Stillwater High School confirmed Sunday that the victim was a student there.
The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office. Croix says the suspect was along the river with a group when he started stabbing other tubers and then took off. It happened near the Sunrise Bridge in Somerset on Saturday afternoon and prompted a search and evacuation of the river for half an hour. CBS According to the criminal complaint, the stabbings occurred after a confrontation between Miu and several others. The complaint lists several videos taken as evidence, which show Miu interacting with the group, who can be heard telling him to leave. The video shows Miu appearing to be looking for something, but the complaint says some of those at the scene thought he was “looking for little girls” and accused him of being a pedophile. The video shows Miu, who investigators say had enough time to leave the confrontation, pull a knife from his cargo pocket. According to the complaint, the video shows him being slapped and pushed by some of the crowd. In the video, he is also seen stabbing some of them, including a person in a yellow swimsuit. Another person is seen in the video with a stab wound to the left side of her torso. The complaint says that Miu’s knife at one point clearly had blood on it and that there was enough blood in the water to give it a red tint in some places. The complaint also includes details of an interview conducted by investigators with Miu. He claimed he feared for his life and was looking for a cellphone that was lost in the water. He said the knife actually belonged to one of the other people at the scene. He also said he was sorry the incident was “over” and that his whole life was now “down the tubes”. At Monday’s hearing, Miu’s lawyer said the incident was a “chance encounter.” Miu was described as an engineer who designs cooling systems. Miu is being held in the prison of St. Croix County. Bail was set at $1 million, which was double the amount requested by prosecutors. The names of the victims have not yet been released, but one of the victims shared her story on social media. Ryhley Mattison shared this gofundme with @WCCO. He is one of five stabbing victims in Apple River. She described her experience and said she is struggling to make ends meet right now as medical bills mount. ⬇️https://t.co/dEyWzueIdt — Kirsten Mitchell (@Kirsten_TV) August 1, 2022 Anyone with information, including video, is asked to call Investigator John Shilts at 715-381-4219 or email [email protected] WCCO staff The WCCO staff is a team of experienced journalists who bring you the content on WCCO.com.