An Oregon man who was charged with murdering three women and dumping their bodies last year is now accused of killing a fourth.
Jesse Lee Calhoun, 40, pleaded not guilty to the murders of Charity Lynn Perry, Bridget Leanne Webster, and Joanna Speaks in June 2024 and has been held at Multnomah County’s Inverness Jail ever since. At a press conference on Tuesday, Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez announced that Calhoun had been indicted for a fourth murder in connection with the death of 22-year-old Kristin Smith.
Smith was reported missing in December 2022, and her remains were discovered in February 2023.
At the time of Calhoun’s May 2024 indictment, prosecutors stated that Smith’s homicide was being investigated in connection with the charges because she went missing around the same time as Perry, Webster, and Speaks. The death of a fifth woman, Ashley Real, 22, was also being investigated in connection with Calhoun’s charges. Calhoun is not currently charged with anything related to Ashley Real’s death.
During Tuesday’s press conference, Vasquez stated that Calhoun had been charged with Smith’s murder, which allegedly occurred on or around November 22, 2022. He declined to go into detail about the evidence that led to the indictment for second-degree murder and second-degree abuse of a corpse, but he did say that it was a “very important and visible step” toward justice for the alleged victims.
Prosecutor Melissa Moreno also described the reindictment as a “significant milestone in this case.” She continued, “I want to be clear: We have a very long road ahead.” Moreno stated that a trial is set to begin in 2027.
As previously reported by Law&Crime, the bodies of five women were discovered in various locations across Oregon and Washington state over the course of three months in 2023. The three women named in Calhoun’s May 2024 indictment were all discovered in April 2023; Smith in February 2023, and Real in May 2023. All five were discovered dead “under suspicious circumstances,” according to prosecutors.
Authorities suspected that at least one of the alleged victims was killed elsewhere before being dumped. While the causes of death for the majority of the women have not been released, the Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office stated that Speaks died as a result of blunt head and neck injuries.
Calhoun was already in jail when he was indicted last year, having been arrested in June 2023 on unrelated parole warrants. According to Law&Crime, former Oregon Gov. Kate Brown granted Calhoun clemency after he volunteered as a firefighter during the state’s 2020 wildfires. Calhoun was released from prison in 2021 after serving time on burglary and theft charges.
Calhoun is now facing four counts of second-degree murder and four counts of abuse of a corpse.
