Apple River stabbing trial: Witness attempted to aid victims

just messed up R I need one second here I'm having a computer malfunction sorry all right sir can you state your name um what town do you live in how old are you7 477 did you were you part of a group of uh folks that were tubing down the river the Apple River uh near Somerset back on July 30th 2022 uh was part of that group did that include nichel Nikolai Mew did you know Mr Mew how did you get invited to their their tubing party coworkers all right um did you know all the folks that were in the group yeah oh was Mr mw a cooworker of yours no was he the only person that wasn't a cooworker of yours no right had you ever spent any time with them before that day no um at some point as you're as you're going down the river um did one of your party lose a phone yes do you remember who that was no I don't um was there some any concern by the person who lost the the phone objection no Foundation sustained did you hear the person who lost the phone make any comments about that objection no Foundation suain is your Tu being your group of tubes are they connected together yes with rope yes uh did you how many tubes did you have if you remember about all right um were you able as you were going down the the river that day to converse with the other folks in your party yes um once the phone was lost did you were you able to hear um the conversation about the phone being lost yes all right did Mr Mew at some point indicates that he wanted to go look for the phone yes did you see him do that yes all right at some point first did you see where he went yeah where did he go he went down river go I don't know how far it was it's quite it's quite it's probably good I have well I say about 20 yard 30 yard all right did he was he did you see him near any other groups no eventually did you realize that um he was getting close to a group well see him I don't know I don't know if there was an argument I don't know what it was a competation and um much I away for ack second when I back going down all right well you're getting ahead of me uh Mr Williams so when you saw him go off to look for the phone was he wearing snorkeling gear yes all right um did you have some concern about that objection irrelevant sustained did you have a conversation with the police um after this matter occurred um on August 3rd of 2022 yes and was that was that your home in Inver Grove Heights and you remember telling the police that you had some concern objection leading and irrelevant I I don't understand why his concern is our concern today so that's why it's not relevant is a leading question CH can we can we approach [Music] yes e e e e e Mr smithad um Mr Williams if I showed you a transcript of your conversation with investigator sheppy from August 3rd of 2022 would that help you refresh your mind with regard to your memory with regard to any concerns you have that day objection he never said his memory is not refreshed he's not been asked the question cuz the previous did you have any concerns and with Mr muw getting in his SN snorkling gear and snorkling down by these other groups yes it is all right and if you remember telling the officer what your concern was that people was going to think that he was up to no good as a predator or whatever that's that's my opin that's keep an eye as you were keeping an eye on him did you see him um talking to a two women uh did you see anything that may have happened between him and the the two women no um did you see him involved in a fight with anybody I did look away for a second and when I look back we did see a brawl in the water where me nesto start rushing towards him to help him out you know break it up all right when you when you saw that was was Mr Mew in the water already yeah all right um the group was one of the groups that he was snorkling near did you see what was what the age was of the the folks in that group and who was strling with said said ask when he was snorkeling Down River from where your group was were you able to determine the ages of any of the people down river that he was snorkeling by no right do you remember having a conversation with uh investigator Williams or pardon me investigator sheppy about that I might have I don't I don't remember all right if I showed you the transcript would that refresh your memory what page I got approach Co yes Mr I'll ask you to read from the middle of the page down a couple lines and let me know when you're done is that refresh your memory yeah what what what did you tell the police you thought the ages always were EXC say that again what did you think the ages of the people were in the tubes don't remember 17 to 20 is that what you told the police could yeah yeah um one thing I forgot to ask you just strike that when you first saw the physical altercation occur did you what did you think was happening I don't know we just rush down and help him out you know all right did did you have a belief that Mr MW wasn't involved in the fight at first seeing people on him so he had to be involved it's it fair to say it's been I don't know almost two years since you talked to the investigators back on August 3rd of 2022 y you may not remember exactly everything you told them it's possible um do you have a memory of telling them what you thought was happening in the fight before realizing that Mr me was involved in it yes what did you tell him I think I may have told him that was concerned about the young kids being intoxicated we didn't want to stop by them we want to stay far away from him as possible but the you know the pedophile thing that's that's that's why I watched I didn't want you know I didn't want that you know that's possible I could have told him I didn't want to think you know anyone to think that he was up to no good sure he's looking for a farm did you see Mr Mew U injuring anybody no um by the time you got down to him was he already up on his feet and heading back yes did you see any injuries on him no he wasn't bleeding I didn't see anything I'm at some point did you realize that there had been some folks uh that were injured in the river yes folks that were injured in the river in the spot where he was involved in the altercation laying along the side of river yes um did as you walked up to Mr Mew did he say anything to you as he came up to you no did he ever say anything to you about what happened we never spoke after that again after that we all everything was just quiet how serious were the injuries of the folks that you saw injured objection Beyond his opinion I guess sustained what did you see pardon me what did you see as far as the injuries of the folks in the river bad did you call 911 yes it did did you call 911 more than once probably about two or three times I'm not sure why did you do that concern about the people on the edge on laying laying on the bank of the river did you attempt to give other assistance no I just went and met paramedics at the river at the bridge and kind of walked them back where everybody were you know U with those paramedics were there some law enforcement prr too um yes it were and I think if I understand what you're saying you sort of directed them to where these injured people were yes anybody else from your group do that no you're the only folk only person from your group that that came over to help I think so yeah at some point did you end up walking back to your group yes um did anybody say anything to you about what you what you saw no anybody ask any questions no did you eventually float away got on tubes and we didn't listen to No Music we just float it and just ready to get off the river at that time we didn't want to be there no more was there any kind of conversation as you're floating down the river never no uh at some point uh the officers think that you had some videos on your phone of what had happened had you taken some videos that day yeah I took videos just our party together and when we stopped we know took videos of each other not of it this about it you didn't have any videos of this actual incident no no [Applause] you know how long your group I stayed uh in that area before floating down the river to the end could have been about 15 minutes how long did it take you to reach the end U of the the trip from where this incident happened probably about another half an hour 20 minutes to half an hour what did you do once you got to the end turn the tubes in and just prepare to go back to our cars get on the bus and go back to our cars all right um at some point did was there more contact with law enforcement at the end yes did you witness that yes all right nothing else Mr Nelson uh Von Williams I've seen it written both ways Williams yeah well Eric Von Williams yeah so your middle name's V but your last name's Williams y okay sir thank you um so Mr Williams I'm Aon Nelson I represent Mr MW I want to ask you some questions too okay yeah you were with Nick that day right right um there's been some pictures that I think have been get 106 through 110 please there's been some pictures of your uh party of 10 people or so on the river have you seen any of those photos from that day yeah 11 Jud yes so that's exhibit 112 you see yourself in that picture okay yeah I do yeah and next to you is is Nick mute correct yep and in that photo you see him wearing sunglasses is that right yes um do you remember that day did he have sunglasses on most of the time yes were there times that you saw him uh you said he saw him with a snorkel and goggles right yes and he certainly went up to look for the phone and I'm going to get to that yes prior to looking for the phone had you seen him resting in the river or using his snorkel in the goggles anytime in the river no you didn't see that no okay had you seen him at times without his sunglasses on during that trip no and then here's a a photo 110 this photo you you see Mr me with a hat on mhm said yes yes yes that's all right um were there times that day that you saw him with a hat on not sure with a hat on yes I'm not sure I can't I'm be honest I can't remember okay do you remember whether it was do you remember not having the Hat on or having the Hat on or you're unsure about either I'm Nots sure about either okay that's fair um showing you what's been marked as exhibit 111 is that appear to be another photo of your group yep yes move for the admission uh to 111 any objection no 111 is received um and you see Mr Mew uh in that photo there he's got sunglasses and the hat on correct yes I do all right you're not in that photo no is that right no okay so sometimes people would wander off from the group maybe and do something else yes or you're just perhaps just not in that photo you might be just behind the person or taking the picture I can't remember okay um in all of those pictures we saw Mr Mew had a shirt on is that right right do you and then uh I believe when he went to with his snorkel to look for the phone do you remember was his shirt on or was his shirt off I can't remember did you have a shirt that day yes did you sometimes take your shirt off no okay you kept it on the whole time um did you snorkel at all no did you get in the water and swim no okay um there was your group of people was generally people my age your age right yes okay um some people were having a couple of beers yeah yes did you observe were you intoxicated no no Did You observe anybody in your group that you thought was intoxicated no did you were you worried about about anyone being loud or obnoxious or Rowdy or anything along those signs no no you'd said that you had I think and I want to really make sure we get this you know you were concerned people were going to think he was up to no good that he was a predator you said that right yes I want to really get into that okay a little bit that's a something that you had in your own mind right yes yes yes and that's a concern that you had when you learned he was going to go snorkel down the river correct right you you didn't think he was up to no good agreed no no you agree I agree I agree you didn't think he was a predator you agree I agree you had no reason to believe based upon what you had seen him do that day that he was praying on little girls no you agree with that I agree with that and but you like a lot of us are able to kind of think about what are other people going to think right exactly yes and I would imagine on the river that day you saw other groups of people right yes and some of those other groups of people appeared to be intoxicated yes and some of those you said young people right y yep yes and you look about my age like how old does somebody need to be to not be considered Young by you how you said how old yeah so when you say young people do you mean like Littles or do you just mean like 25 and under teenagers and 25 under 30 okay all right y so it's not like they're young young no so the people that you saw on there you saw some people in this age group and teenagers 20 something that were intoxicated correct yes and based upon your observations you were kind of worried about some of those people right yes based upon your life experiences you know a group of drunk young men might not be people you want to be correct yes and that was a concern that you had right that's a concern we all had sure and that uh you're like look drunk young people when they get together bad things can happen sometimes right right and that's why you were trying to be kind of more conservative like let's just stay together here let's not mix ourselves up with these drunk young people that might be dangerous we have made agreement not to stop by young people get know stop a little farther down the river and why were you what why were you personally all you can talk about is you why were you concerned about not stopping by young people intoxication okay and why were you worried about young people that were intoxicated do they cause problem sometimes they could it's possibility but I see do they have conflict sometimes it could be conflicts all right do they sometimes are you uh concerned about their decision making when they're intoxicated and a group of young men I just worried about what Nick was doing looking for a phone I didn't want anybody to think sure gives up to no good and if there were non intoxicated people you wouldn't be worried about that correct I'll still be worried about that what was that I I would still be worried about that but you were more worried cuz they were intoxicated right and I imagine you were more worried cuz there's more of them correct check sustained You' said um I think you'd said before we were out there with his wife and these young guys they're quick to test us that's what you told the police right I think you're talking in general not that day but in general did you feel as if sometimes young men as a group are quick to test you older men well yeah I do remember that conversation that they uh you you did talk to me yeah that's because your in your life experience sometimes young men get a kick out of challenging perhaps an older guy right over Ru an answer if you are able to yeah yeah I ran into it a couple of times so yes and that's what and that's why you were concerned yes right when you saw you saw Nick come back is that right yes um very say he was quiet he's quiet nesto got nesto grabbed Nick and walked him back and i k going forward okay so your interaction with Nick there on the river was very brief right at that Nick well with everything that went down me and Nick didn't talk after you know I'm just it sounds like you're walking in this direction towards Nick mhm and then Ernesto gets there first is that right right and then Ernesto grabs Nick and helps Nick get back to the group in some manner right yes you don't know cuz you're not looking at him right no cuz you continue on in that direction to go down to see what all the yelling and the screaming is about correct Y and at some point 15 minutes or so you eventually go back to the group where Nick is correct yes and at that point Nick is sitting there quietly correct yes you don't hear him say anything agreed no do you make observations of his person yes he appears to be somber yes quiet yes have you heard the expression white as a ghost before yes sir yeah yes I did did he have that look about him you had to look you know you I just say he had a look and um yes he did have you seen people when they're in shock before no I personally no okay would you know what that looked like if you saw it probably would yeah he look like he was in shock object sustained wait for the next question that's all is your M atad anything else thank you Mr Williams you may step down thank you uh please see the witness coordinator on your way out and she'll give you further instructions it's 41 do you have a short witness is there any administrative manners that we contend to I mean offering exhibits that need to come in yes and I probably things

Channel: FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul

Views: 71,097

Keywords: news, wisconsin, apple river stabbing, nicolae miu, wisconsin river stabbing, nicolai miu, nicolae mew, apple river trial, apple river stabbing trial, trial apple river update, isaac schuman, isaac shoeman, wisconsin crime, apple river stabbing update, minnesota crime

Id: eOWeZ3oW2C0

Length: 28min 22sec (1702 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 03 2024