- Nicolae Miu, 54, was described as a ‘peaceable’ man by his ex-wife, who filed for divorce amid his impending homicide trial
- The engineer would steadily share right-wing memes and as soon as gushed over his ex-wife shopping for him a gun for Valentines Day
- Details over his previous surfaced following his homicide conviction this week, together with his spouse and son who fled to Romania following his divorce in 2009
Before he turned often known as a frenzied stabber who attacked a gaggle of youngsters on the Apple River on what would have been a enjoyable day trip with mates, Nicolae Miu was a ‘peaceable’ man who liked his engineering job and spent most of his time excited about his canine.
That’s what a trial heard this week as Miu was convicted of the homicide of Isaac Shuman, a 17-year-old who was among the many group tormenting Miu. They labeled him a pedophile, insisting he’d been taking images of women of their swimwear.
The man who gave them that concept admitted at Miu’s trial that he’d stated it within the warmth of the second and could not truly make certain that he’d seen it in hindsight.
Convinced he was beneath attack, Miu lashed out – stabbing 5 youngsters, together with Shuman and a teenage woman, earlier than tossing the knife.
Some of the victims’ wounds had been horrific. One lifted his shirt to indicate the massive torso scar that Miu inflicted when he sliced him from ribs to his pelvis.
In Miu’s protection, his estranged spouse Sondra testified that he was not violent, and had been appearing in self-defense. She filed for divorce a month earlier than the trial started, citing the stress of it as the reason for the wedding breakdown.
In old social media posts, Miu – a Romanian native who arrived within the US as a young person – he gave a glimpse into their marriage with pictures of the handgun she purchased him for Valentine’s Day.
In divorce filings obtained by DailyMail.com, Miu was beforehand married to a girl named Teodora, who he shared a son, Alex, with in 2005.
The couple divorced in 2009, and courtroom information present that he and his mom moved to Bucharest, Romania on the finish of the wedding whereas Nicolae remained in Minnesota.
He labored at Ritchie Engineering, and earned $7,250 a month, based on the divorce submitting.
Miu then remarried in 2011 along with his colleague on the engineering manufacturing unit, who testified in his protection at his homicide trial this week.
She described him as a ‘peaceable’ man who was recognized to assist neighbors fixing issues, typically along with his ‘utility knife’ that was used within the attack.
Sondra divorced him final month, however insisted that she nonetheless loves him.
On the stand, he advised about present process quadruple bypass surgical procedure within the years earlier than the deadly incident.
He cried when offered with a photograph of his terrier, his beloved canine that he known as his ‘child’, his ‘angel’.
Prosecutors additionally claimed that Miu was drunk through the attack, nonetheless Sondra insisted he solely had one or two beers, and was solely a ‘average drinker’ who would solely drink alcohol often.
She added that Nicolae has a quadruple bypass surgical procedure in 2020.
While described as a peaceable man, throughout his marriage Miu would steadily share right-wing jokes on his since-deleted Facebook account.
Archived photos from his old Facebook confirmed he would typically share his views on weapons and his love of the Second Amendment.
In one publish from 2019, Miu shared a picture of a handgun and ammo inside a heart-shaped field that his spouse had purchased for him as a present.
‘Big because of my great spouse! I really like my current! Happy Valentine’s Day to you too!’ he wrote.
He additionally reshared a publish in March 2020 studying: ‘I imagine in the precise to maintain and bear arms. A Facebooker has challenged all gun homeowners to place this on their wall.
‘The U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed the precise to maintain and bear arms is a basic proper of an individual.
‘If you imagine within the 2nd Amendment, and you aren’t afraid to indicate it, re-post this!! Guns don’t kill folks, folks kill folks.’
In 1999, Miu was additionally concerned in a submitting alongside along with his an identical twin brother Mihai, as they filed for a restraining order towards their father, Nicolae Miu Sr.
In the submitting, first reported by The Sun, they cited ‘quite a few cases’ of bodily abuse by the hands of their father, and testified that their father ‘spied’ on Mihai and was caught ‘lurking outdoors his home.’
The brothers claimed to be ‘actually afraid’ of him.
In response, Nicolae Sr reportedly advised the courtroom a weird story about how the ‘KGB has a plot aimed to ‘get him’ via his son.’
The restraining order was upheld, and Nicolae Sr’s enchantment was rejected. He died lower than 18 months later aged 75.
With no brushes with the regulation till the stabbing in July 2022, Miu would typically take to social media to rant, together with quite a few transphobic remarks.
In one publish, reported by The Sun, he wrote: ‘The whole world is a really complicated world latest…boys dressing like ladies, faux lips, faux boobs, faux meals faux every little thing!
‘Boys utilizing ladies loos….is that alleged to be our new the stipple of freedom?
‘Men not respecting their girls counterparts due to a scarcity of upbringing could be very regarding…. kids not respecting their dad and mom can be very regarding….and sure not respecting God is essentially the most regarding to me!’
Although he typically shared posts on weapons and the Second Amendment, Miu had no different brushes with the regulation till the fateful day on the river.
During the primary week of trial on April 1, the courtroom reviewed a video that captured the extreme moments main as much as and through the stabbing.
Miu was seen aggressively approaching the tubers, together with the person recording, as they heckled him and laughed at him – telling him to ‘walk away.’
The twenty-somethings reportedly approached Miu first, nonetheless, after recognizing him chatting to a gaggle of youngsters who seemed ‘uncomfortable,’ as he was allegedly asking for the numbers of ‘young ladies.’
A girl then approached Miu ordering him to go away from the group, whereas one of many boys shouted ‘he was in search of little ladies.’
The video then confirmed the group push Miu down into the water repeatedly and hit him whereas he scrambled to stand up.
Members of the group then started to shout: ‘He hit a girl?’
The lady clutched her facet in shock as blood started to pour out, and it turned obvious that she had been stabbed.
The DA’s Office stated that there was ‘sufficient blood within the river that water turned a purple tint in locations.’
Video then confirmed the chilling second one other member of the group stumbled into the river as a pool of purple water emerged round him.
Chaos ensued because the group rapidly dispersed. The cameraman screamed ‘this is not actual’ as extra blood stained the water.
The distressing footage then all of a sudden minimize out.
When the stabbing unfolded, Miu’s spouse Sondra advised detectives that the violent altercation started after Miu, whose group was additional up the river, went again to discover a ‘cellphone that was misplaced’ whereas carrying snorkeling gear.
While he was trying, Sondra stated a ‘group of fellows bought off their tubes and began hitting’ him.
