A photo of 17-year-old Isaac Schuman is displayed in front of the jury during the Nicolae Miu trial at the St. Croix County District Court in Hudson, Wis., on Monday, April 1, 2024. (Elizabeth Flores, Pool via Star Tribune)

Nicolae Miu’s best friend testified on Friday morning that he was the one who asked Miu to bring his folding pocket knife on a tubing trip on the Apple River so they could cut the cords tying the tubes together at the end of their trip.

“Who’s the guy who tends to have a pocket knife in your group of friends?” defense attorney Aaron Nelson asked Ernesto Torres-Chaguez.

“Nic,” Torres-Chaguez said through an interpreter.

Torres-Chaguez was the first witness for the defense to testify in the murder trial of Nicolae Miu in St. Croix County, Wis., Circuit Court. Miu, 54, of Prior Lake, is charged with fatally stabbing Isaac Schuman, 17, of Stillwater and injuring four others during a river confrontation with tubers in Somerset on July 30, 2022.

Torres-Chaguez testified out of order – the prosecution still has additional witnesses to call – because of witness availability. He was the 34th witness overall to testify at the trial, which entered its fifth day on Friday.

Miu’s friend testifies

Miu and his then-wife, Sondra Miu, went tubing with Torres-Chaguez and other friends on July 30, 2022, Torres-Chaguez said. He said his friend is a handyman who helps him fix things around his house, including his swimming pool.

“He’s always there helping things in his house or he goes to other houses to help fix things,” he said.

Miu has used his pocket knife to fix things in the past, Torres-Chaguez said, and he said he called Miu the morning of the tubing trip and asked Miu to bring his pocket knife with him.

“The last time we went to the river, we had all the inner tubes tied together, and we couldn’t cut the cords, so we had to pull them out of the river all together and bring them up to the place where we had to leave them,” Torres-Chaguez said.

Torres-Chaguez said there was “no reason” for him to be worried about Miu having a knife. His friend, he said, has a “character of peacefulness.”

Torres-Chaguez testified that their group, which included Nic and Sondra Miu, Miu’s then-wife, was floating down the river Ariel Chaguez accidentally dropped his phone in the water. Miu took his mask and snorkel and began to look for the phone, Torres-Chaguez said.

Confrontation

Torres-Chaguez said he didn’t realize Miu had encountered another group and was involved in a confrontation until Sondra Miu said, “Nic is in trouble.”

“I looked down where people were, and I saw Nic in the water,” Torres-Chaguez said. “I stood up, and tried to get there. He was in the water, and there were people around him … maybe there were 10, 15, I don’t know.”

Torres-Chaguez heard people yelling at Miu, “but didn’t see anyone hit him,” he said. When he tried to walk over to check on Miu, he said he lost his shoes in the river. Miu eventually came back, but someone from the other group was following him and pointing at him, he said.

Torres-Chaguez said he twice told the person to “stay there” and not approach Miu.

“I tried to prevent that person from approaching us because I thought maybe the problem was going to continue,” Torres-Chaguez said.

“And you thought the solution to that problem was to keep Nic separated from the group that was pointing at you?” Nelson asked

“Yes,” he responded.

Miu “looked worried, and he was pale,” Torres-Chaguez said.

“I think there was a time when you also (said) he looked white or he looked wide-eyed,” Nelson said. “Did you see those things when you looked at Nic?”

“Yes,” he responded.

Torres-Chaguez said he has known Miu for 10 years and that he had never seen his friend scared before.

“Did he look like he was scared then?” Nelson asked.

“Yes,” he responded.

Torres-Chaguez said the trip down the river to the exit point — which took about 30 to 35 minutes — was “totally quiet. As far as I remember, nobody talked until we got to the exit.”

When they reached the exit, Torres-Chaguez said he saw a number of police officers. When the group got out, an officer approached Miu and said, “He has to come with us,” he said.

“He was walking normally with them,” Torres-Chaguez said. “We were in shock because we didn’t know why they were detaining him. We didn’t know what had happened.”

“And you couldn’t believe your friend who’s peaceful would have done anything to harm someone?” Nelson asked.

“Never,” he responded.

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