Jesse Calhoun indicted in serial killing of 3 women in Portland area; could face more charges (2024)

Jesse Lee Calhoun, identified last year as a person of interest in a series of suspicious deaths of women in Oregon, has been indicted in three of the killings as detectives continue to investigate two other mysterious deaths, authorities said Friday.

The announcement capped more than a year of fear and speculation about the possibility of a serial killer preying on women in and around the Portland metro area as police discovered the bodies of women left in remote areas over a three-month span.

Acknowledging the agonizing wait for charges to be filed, Multnomah County Sheriff Nicole Morrisey O’Donnell thanked the public for its patience and recognized the grief of the families of the women who went missing.

“Their deaths have caused fear and anxiety across our area,” Morrisey O’Donnell said at a joint news conference with the district attorney, Portland police chief and detectives and prosecutors handling the case. “And for the families who have been waiting for answers, we want our community to know that all of us in public safety have been working tirelessly to achieve this result.”

A Multnomah County grand jury on Thursday returned a six-count indictment against Calhoun, 39, charging him with three counts each of second-degree murder and second-degree abuse of a corpse in the deaths of Charity Lynn Perry, 24, Bridget Leanne Webster, 31, and JoAnna Speaks, 32.

Police and prosecutors said they continue to investigate the deaths of two other women — Ashley Real, 22, and Kristin Smith, also 22, and that Calhoun may face additional charges.

Police and prosecutors didn’t answer questions about how their investigation linked Calhoun to the crimes or how he knew the women. Calhoun’s ex-girlfriend previously linked the prolific burglar and car thief to Webster. The ex-girlfriend described seeing a video on Calhoun’s cellphone that showed Webster without a shirt and a needle in her hand while in a car, saying she had just “quit shooting up.”

Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt said he met with the women’s families earlier in the morning. He noted “the deep pain and the grief” they’ve shouldered the past year.

“This community holds you in our hearts and is here to support you,” he said. “There’s still more work to be done. Investigations are ongoing.”

County sheriff’s detectives worked with Portland police detectives, Clackamas County sheriff’s deputies, other law enforcement agencies and investigators in the district attorney’s office on the case.

Family and friends of the women attended the news conference, wearing shirts bearing photos of their loved ones. The back read: “WE DEMAND JUSTICE.” They’ve clamored for answers in the women’s deaths.

CoLene Vargas, the mother of JoAnna Speaks, described her past year as “hell.” She said she has questions still and didn’t get many of them answered during the news conference. She said she just feels “empty.”

Suspicion regarding Calhoun surfaced after The Oregonian/OregonLive began reporting on the string of dead women, which authorities initially denied were connected. But county prosecutors said last summer that they had identified a “person of interest” in some of the deaths, without naming Calhoun. Sources familiar with the investigation identified Calhoun as that man.

Police and prosecutors said repeatedly that the investigation was complex and that they devoted considerable time and resources to it.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Melissa Marrero dismissed suggestions that the indictment was in any way an attempt to influence Tuesday’s election for district attorney. Incumbent Schmidt faces one of his prosecutors, Senior Deputy District Attorney Nathan Vasquez, in a divisive race.

Marrero said police and prosecutors last year scheduled a grand jury to hear the case in May, aware that Calhoun was set to be released from prison next month.

“We knew that we would need to move forward by that time,” she said.

“The election had nothing to do with why we chose to do it at the time we did or the speed at which the investigation went forward,” she said. “The collection and development of the evidence is what controlled that completely.”

Calhoun is being held at the Snake River Correctional Institute in Ontario, where he’s been serving the second half of a four-year sentence in a burglary and car theft case dating back to 2019. His punishment was cut short in 2021, when then-Gov. Kate Brown commuted his and 40 other prisoners’ sentences as thanks for serving as volunteer firefighters. Brown made expansive use of her pardon powers, freeing more than 1,000 people during her administration.

Calhoun’s early release was conditional — and subject to revocation if he violated his release terms. Yet it’s unclear how closely authorities monitored Calhoun. While a county spokesperson said Calhoun reported to his probation officer as required, Real, who later died, told Portland police he attacked and strangled her in November 2022. The alleged attack was never referred to the district attorney’s office for prosecution, and Calhoun hasn’t been charged in Real’s death. Calhoun’s ex-girlfriend also said that Calhoun had at one time a sexual relationship with Real.

It wasn’t until July 3, 2023, that Schmidt requested Gov. Tina Kotek rescind Calhoun’s commutation, citing unspecified criminal conduct. The governor revoked his early release later that day.

A Clackamas County SWAT team caught up with Calhoun during a traffic stop on July 6 at a Milwaukie gas station, according to Calhoun’s ex-girlfriend, Krista Sinor. Calhoun jumped into the Willamette River to evade capture, according to Sinor and police, but eventually returned to shore and was arrested.

He’s been held in near isolation in prison since and will remain behind bars once he is transferred to the Multnomah County Detention Center to face charges here, prosecutors said. The new indictment against Calhoun was not filed in court as of Friday afternoon.

Portland Police Chief Bob Day said that while the announcement of the indictment was gratifying, it remained “a very somber day” for the families who have lost their loved ones.

“Although we cannot bring them back, we will do our very best to find justice and resolution in this process,” Day said.

The women named in the indictment were in vulnerable circ*mstances as they struggled to survive on the streets or while grappling with the effects of addiction, their families previously told The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Speaks was found dead of blunt force trauma to the head and neck April 8, 2023, in a derelict barn east of the Interstate 5 interchange in Ridgefield, about 20 miles into Washington state. Homicide detectives believe she was killed in Portland and was later moved across state lines.

Perry, who suffered from schizophrenia and was last seen alive near a notorious open-air drug market in downtown Portland, was found April 24, 2023, in a culvert near Ainsworth State Park. Her mother, Diana Allen, previously told The Oregonian/OregonLive her daughter’s body had likely been left in the drainage ditch for two weeks before being discovered.

Webster’s body was found next, on April 30, 2023, on Harmony Road near Mill Creek in northwest Polk County, though she was known to frequent the Portland area and last lived in Clackamas County.

Authorities haven’t released a cause of death for either Perry or Webster.

Perry’s mother, Diana Allen, and Melissa Smith, whose daughter Kristin Smith’s death remains unsolved, stood to speak at the news conference. Kristin Smith, of Gresham, was reported missing on Dec. 22, 2022, and her body was found in a wooded area in Southeast Portland’s Pleasant Valley neighborhood in Feb. 19, 2023.

Allen said not having answers has been very frustrating but she praised the detectives’ dedication to the investigation.

“Just because not all of these girls have charges that have been brought up yet, that does not mean we’re not still standing beside them. We’re still together,” Allen said.

Melissa Smith said she hopes a resolution will come in the future for her family and Real’s family. Real disappeared from Southeast Portland on March 27, 2023, and was found dead in a heavily wooded area in the Eagle Creek area on May 7, 2023.

“We’ve done a lot of investigating all year,” Melissa Smith said. “We just keep going. We keep waiting. We keep praying. ... We stay hopeful that we soon can get justice for them as well.”

Last year, the specter of a suspected serial killer given a second chance by state leaders unleashed fierce criticism and finger-pointing among law enforcement leaders. Schmidt previously said he was given only a week to review the 14 commutations, including Calhoun’s, that were submitted by the governor’s office.

A spokesperson for Schmidt said he ended up not having time to review the commutation request, though prosecutors in Washington, Clackamas and Marion counties did object to the majority of Brown’s proposed commutations. Regardless, Brown signed off on Calhoun’s early release in July 2021 — about a year before his sentence on burglary, stolen car and assaulting a public safety officer convictions was up.

The first of the missing women was found dead about 18 months later.

—Zane Sparling covers breaking news and courts for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach him at 503-319-7083, zsparling@oregonian.com or @pdxzane.

—Maxine Bernstein covers federal court and criminal justice. Reach her at 503-221-8212, mbernstein@oregonian.com, follow her on X @maxoregonian, or on LinkedIn.

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