Man linked to deaths of three Portland-area woman indicted on murder charges

PORTLAND, Ore. (KGW/KTVZ) — Jesse Lee Calhoun has been indicted on murder charges for the deaths of three women in the Portland area, the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office announced Friday morning, KGW reported. 

A grand jury returned an indictment on Thursday, charging Calhoun, 39, with three counts of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree abuse of a corpse in connection with the deaths of 24-year-old Charity Lynn Perry, 31-year-old Bridget Leanne Webster and 32-year-old Joanna Speaks.

All three women were found dead under suspicious circumstances in 2023, along with two others; Kristin Smith and Ashley Real. The District Attorney's Office later said that one person of interest was linked to at least four victims; Perry, Webster, Smith and Real. Authorities didn't publicly identify the person, but multiple media outlets reported that it was Calhoun, citing law enforcement sources.

Law enforcement officials held a news conference on Friday to discuss the indictment.

Thursday's indictment is the first time Calhoun has been formally charged in connection with any of the deaths. He was arrested in June 2023 on unrelated parole board warrants and is currently incarcerated at the Snake River Correctional Institution in eastern Oregon. He was previously scheduled to be released from prison on June 7, according to public records obtained by KGW from the Oregon Board of Parole. 

KGW reported last week that a grand jury would soon hear testimony regarding the murder of Speaks; prosecutors were reportedly seeking an indictment before Calhoun's scheduled release from prison.

Calhoun wrote to KGW from prison last year, claiming that he had been wrongly accused.

Calhoun was previously incarcerated for burglary, car theft and assaulting a public safety officer. He was released about 11 months early after then-Gov. Kate Brown commuted his sentence in 2021; he was one of several inmates who had their sentences reduced after helping fight wildfires the year before. His commutation was revoked a month after his June 2023 arrest.

The three women Calhoun is charged with killing — Perry, Webster and Speaks — were all found dead in April 2023; Perry in east Multnomah County, Webster in Polk County and Speaks in Clark County.

Three other women were also found dead in the Portland area between February and May 2023; Smith, Real and an unidentified woman who police later said appeared to have no connection with the other five cases.

The timing of the deaths prompted questions about possible connections last year. Portland police released a statement in June 2023 saying that there was "no reason to believe" that the cases were connected, but about a month later the District Attorney's Office said investigators had found links between the deaths of Smith, Perry, Webster and Real. That same day, Willamette Week published a story identifying Calhoun as the potential "serial killer" linked to those four cases.

Calhoun has only been charged in connection with the deaths of Perry, Webster and Speaks, but officials said on Friday that investigators are still looking into the deaths of Smith and Real. They also reiterated that the unidentified sixth woman’s death has no relation to the others.