ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) — A St. Paul man is facing attempted murder charges after allegedly slashing his girlfriend’s throat and leaving her to bleed out on a light rail platform. The victim told police that her life was saved by good Samaritans who applied pressure to her wound.
Ray Criss, 36, is charged in Ramsey County with second-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault in connection with the Monday stabbing, court documents show. If convicted of the attempted murder charge, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Criss is currently in custody in lieu of $1 million bail.
According to a criminal complaint, officers responding to a report of a stabbing found the 40-year-old victim at the Union Depot light rail station with a large gash on the left side of her throat. She was bleeding profusely, and by-standers had stepped in to help stem the bleeding loss.
Medics brought the victim to Regions Hospital, where she told investigators that Criss, her boyfriend, stabbed her, adding that he’d been threatening to kill her for weeks, the complaint states.
The stabbing was caught on surveillance camera, which showed Criss get off a train, approach his girlfriend, cut her throat, and throw the knife in the garage. According to investigators, Union Depot security said that the couple was fighting prior to the stabbing. A security guard recovered the knife.
St. Paul police arrested Criss on Wednesday at his apartment, where investigators found clothes that matched those seen on the surveillance footage. In an interview, Criss said that the man in the video looked like him, but he denied being at the Union Depot station on Monday.
According to prosecutors, Criss has six prior felony convictions.
Domestic Violence Resources: For anonymous, confidential help, people can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or 1-800-787-3224.