Kyle Rittenhouse attorney to defend accused Apple River killer Nicolae Miu

The 52-year-old Minnesota man charged with killing a teenager and injuring four others during a stabbing spree on a western Wisconsin river last week has retained an attorney who represented Kyle Rittenhouse in his high-profile Wisconsin case last year. 

Asked by St. Croix County District Judge Michael Waterman Friday if he has retained counsel, Nicolae Miu, appearing via video, confirmed that he has hired Corey Chirafisi to defend him. 

Chirafisi was among the attorneys who defended Rittenhouse after the then-17-year-old used a Smith & Wesson M&P 15 rifle to fatally shoot two people and maim another during the civil unrest that followed the Kenosha police shooting of Jacob Blake. 

Rittenhouse was found not guilty of first-degree reckless homicide, first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree attempted attentional homicide and two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, after claiming to have been acting in self-defense.

Miu's case is also expected to center around self-defense, with Miu saying he "feared for his life" when he stabbed five people aged 17 to 24 during a confrontation on the Apple River in Somerset, Wisconsin, on Saturday, July 30.

Related: Charges reveal details of Miu's alleged mass stabbing on the Apple River

Isaac Schuman, 17, of Stillwater, was killed in the attack. Four others suffered critical injuries and were taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul. 

Miu has lived in Prior Lake the past 11 years, and has lived in the Twin Cities metro since 1993.

He'll appear in court for a preliminary hearing next week. 

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