Grand Portage man charged with attempted murder after allegedly stabbing wife

A Grand Portage resident was charged this week with attempted murder after allegedly stabbing his wife on April 24. River Spry, 41, faces charges of felony assault in addition to attempted murder.

According to court documents, on April 24, Cook County Sheriff’s Deputy Paul Spry was following up on a reported accident from the day before at the home of River Spry in Grand Portage. When he arrived he saw River Spry with his hand on the neck of his wife, identified in the documents as RP, who was lying on the floor and who had sustained a knife wound to her neck. Deputy Spry removed River Spry from the RP, and noted that his face was swollen and appeared to be burned.

Cook County Sheriff’s Investigator Angelique Homan traveled with RP to the hospital and collected a statement from her when she was in stable condition. RP reported to Homan that during an altercation the previous night during which she said River Spry had dragged her around the kitchen, she threw hot water on his face. She reported that River Spry had been drinking, and that she was afraid of him, since he was often violent when he was drinking.

In her statement to police, RP said that the incident on April 24 occurred when she called an ambulance to take River Spry to the hospital for medical care, but he did not want to see a doctor. At that point she reports he used a fillet knife to stab her. The knife broke, at which point she stated that he began strangling her.

Before Deputy Spry arrived, RP sustained a series of injuries which have required stitches and staples.

River Spry has been charged with one felony count of attempted murder in the second degree, one felony count of assault in the first degree (great bodily harm), one felony count of assault in the second degree (dangerous weapon with substantial bodily harm), and one felony count of domestic assault by strangulation.

River Spry was previously been charged with misdemeanor domestic assault and gross misdemeanor malicious punishment of a child in 2024, though those charges were dismissed after he completed a year of probation. He also faces another set of charges related to an incident in March of this year, including two misdemeanor domestic assault charges and one count of felony second degree assault involving a dangerous weapon.

River Spry is next expected in court on May 11, 2026 for a Review Hearing for both the charges related to both incidents. He is currently being held at the Lake County Jail.

Kirsten Wisniewski May 1, 2026