Male, 54, who fatally stabbed teenager, wounded 4 young people amid river tubing fight receives his sentence

A controversial case involving a lethal stabbing confrontation between a 54-year-old man and several young people has ended with a 20-year prison sentence.

Nicolae Miu of Prior Lake, Minnesota, was convicted in April of first-degree intentional homicide after he stabbed five people, killing one teenager, during the 2022 fight at the Apple River in Wisconsin near the Minnesota border. He also was convicted of four counts of recklessly endangering safety in the first degree.

In one particularly emotional scene from the case, victim A.J. Martin recounted how he tried to stop the fight and ended up holding his intestines in his hands. He lifted up his shirt to show the gruesome scar left from the attack.

On Wednesday, Miu hung his head as Judge R. Michael Waterman of St. Croix County (Wis.) District Court read the sentence.

Harrowing video showed some of the bloody aftermath; 17-year-old Isaac Schuman from Minnesota was transported to a hospital where he was declared dead.

Miu's defenders argued that he had been attacked and was responding in self-defense — and they pointed to disjointed testimony from young witnesses in the court case.

Miu told police he believed one of the young people had his phone and that he was under threat. Investigators said he used a three-inch silver knife to stab at the group.

One of the stabbing victims claimed in a GoFundMe page that Miu had acted inappropriately toward the group prior to the stabbing and was asked to leave but refused.

In one particularly emotional scene from the case, victim A.J. Martin recounted how he tried to stop the fight and ended up holding his intestines in his hands. He lifted up his shirt to show the gruesome scar left from the attack.

Prosecutors had asked for a 70-year prison sentence. Miu will be placed on six years of extended supervision after serving his sentence.

"I hope that monster suffers as much as I do every day until he gets to hell," said Schuman's mother, Alina Hernandez, at trial.

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