A man from Minnesota charged with murder and other offenses over a deadly stabbing episode that left a high schooler dead and four others in their 20s seriously wounded at a popular tubing destination on a Wisconsin river has reportedly hired the lawyer who represented Kyle Rittenhouse and is standing by his self-defense claim. 

At a brief virtual hearing on Friday, Nicolae Miu, 52, told the court that he retained Corey Chirafisi of Madison, Wisconsin, as his defense attorney, The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. 

Miu is charged with first-degree intentional homicide for the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Isaac Schuman, as well as four additional counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide.

According to an affidavit, Miu said he, his wife and two friends arrived at Apple River to go tubing on the Saturday morning of July 30, and he later left their group twice with goggles and a snorkel to look for his friend’s missing phone, which was in a floater bag. 

WISCONSIN RIVER TUBING STABBING SUSPECT CLAIMS SELF-DEFENSE, SAYS HE WAS FALSELY ACCUSED AS A ‘CHILD MOLESTER’

wisconsin tubing stabbing victim and suspect split image

An incoming senior at Stillwater High School, 17-year-old Isaac Schuman, left, was fatally stabbed allegedly by Nicolae Miu, right, on Apple River on July 30.  (FOX 9/St. Croix County)

But Miu apparently startled a group of young people by grabbing onto a tube, and a crowd gathered around him shouting false accusations that he was a child molester who was "out looking for little girls," according to witness video cited in court documents. 

Wisconsin tubing stabbing scene

Tubes sit on the bank of the Apple River while Water Recovery authorities comb the area with metal detectors after five people were stabbed while tubing down the river, Saturday, July 30, 2022, in Somerset, Wis.  (Alex Kormann/Star Tribune via AP)

Miu claimed that the group attacked him first in the water and that he saw they had knives on them. 

Miu fled the scene and was apprehended about an hour and a half later at a different section of the river by an exit ramp for tubers. He remains jailed on $1 million cash bond. 

rittenhouse and defense lawyer corey chirafisi

Kyle Rittenhouse, left, and his attorney Corey Chirafisi stand after meeting with Judge Bruce Schroeder for questions on video during jury deliberation at the trial on November 17, 2021, in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  (Sean Krajacic - Pool/Getty Images)

Chirafisi won acquittals on first-degree intentional homicide and all other charges for Rittenhouse in November 2021. 

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Rittenhouse testified he acted in self-defense when he opened fired during riots that swelled in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August 2021, after being chased down and attacked by protesters.