Oregon prosecutors announced they have indicted a suspected serial killer in connection with three murders in the Portland area, weeks before he was released on unrelated charges.
Jesse Lee Calhoun, 39, an ex-offender who was released from prison in early 2021, is accused of killing at least three women and is suspected of causing the deaths of at least two more, authorities said.
Police arrested him last year after the bodies of women were discovered within a 100-mile radius of the city. He now faces three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of abuse of a corpse, the result of a massive investigation involving law enforcement agencies in multiple counties and the FBI across two states.
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Suspected Portland serial killer Jesse Lee Calhoun, 39, is charged with the murders of Christine Smith, 22, Charity Lynn Perry, 24, and Bridget Leanne Webster, 31. It was done. (Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office)
police name career criminal calhouna person of interest in five murders that occurred in the Portland area between February and May.
Joanna Speaks (32 years old), Christine Smith (22 years old), Charity Lynn Perry (24 years old), Bridget Leanne Webster (31 years old), and Ashley Leal (22 years old). All were found in forested areas of Washington or Oregon.
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The bodies of Joanna Speaks, Charity Perry, Kristin Smith, Bridget Webster, Ashley Leal and a sixth unidentified woman were found within 100 miles of the Portland area in the past five months. Ta. (Fox News Digital, Google Maps)
The Multnomah County Prosecutor’s Office announced charges Friday in the deaths of Perry, Webster and Speaks.
Perry was homeless and last lived in a tent in Vancouver, Washington, about nine miles north of Portland, his mother previously told Fox News Digital. However, her body was found 55 miles to the east in a culvert at Ainsworth State Park.
Charity Perry after winning an award at the Chili contest. Her body was discovered on April 24, 2023, near a state park along the Columbia River east of Portland, Oregon. (Diana Allen/Associated Press)
According to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, on April 8, 2023, police discovered Speaks’ body near an abandoned barn in Ridgefield, Washington. It’s about 37 miles north of Portland.
“There are signs body moved to this location,” the sheriff’s office said at the time. She showed signs of blunt force trauma to her head and neck, authorities said.
Deputies in Clark County, Washington, have launched a homicide investigation into Joanna Speaks’ death after her body was discovered in an abandoned barn in Ridgefield, Washington. (Clark County Sheriff’s Office)
Webster’s body was discovered in Polk County on April 30, 2023. She was originally from Milwaukee, Oregon.
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Bridget Webster, of Milwaukee, was found dead in Polk County on April 30th. (Polk County Sheriff’s Office)
The deaths of Leal and Smith remain under investigation. Prosecutors are asking anyone with information to contact Portland Police Detective Jeff Pontius. Jeffery.pontius@police.portlandoregon.gov Or Detective Stephen Gundy stephen.gandy@police.portlandoregon.gov.
Leal was last seen on March 27 at a fast food restaurant in Portland. Police found her body on May 7 in Eagle Creek, about 40 miles southeast of Portland.
Smith went missing on December 22, 2022. Police found her body in the woods in the Pleasant Valley area on February 19th.
Kristin Smith and Ashley Leal were found dead in February and May, respectively, and Portland police initially said they had “no reason to believe” their deaths were related. (Portland Police Bureau)
Calhoun received a lighter sentence due to previous convictions including auto theft, robbery and fighting with an arresting officer. In 2021, then-Gov. Kate Brown had her sentence commuted for drug and weapons charges in 2018 as part of a program giving leniency to prisoners who volunteered to fight wildfires.
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This was not the first time he was released from prison. He also served about two years in prison for assault from 2009 to 2011.
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A grand jury just handed down an indictment, but Brown has been in custody since last year after his successor, Gov. Tina Kotek, revoked his pardon.
He was nearing the end of his original sentence when authorities announced a new case against him. He is scheduled to be transferred from the Snake River Correctional Facility to the Multnomah County Jail prior to his arraignment.
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Fox News’ Michael Lee and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
