Detectives in Oregon have linked the murders of four women to a Multnomah County man who was released early from prison in July 2021 because he joined a group of inmates fighting devastating wildfires the previous year.
Jesse Lee Calhoun, 38, is again behind bars now, Willamette Week reports, after his clemency was revoked.
The Multnomah County District Attorney’s office specifically said that it had not named a suspect in the murders, the Oregonian reports, but law enforcement sources identified Calhoun as the man linked to the murders.
“We have not named a suspect,” said Liz Merah, a district attorney’s office spokesperson. “Investigators have interviewed multiple people in connection with these cases and have identified at least one person of interest that is linked to all four of the decedents.”
The district attorney’s office said their “person of interest” had been linked to the deaths of Kristin Smith, 22; Charity Lynn Perry, 24; Bridget Leann Ramsey Webster, 31; and Ashley Real, 22. Their bodies were found between February and May of this year, within 100 miles of each other.
Investigators said they have not found evidence to link the deaths of two other women — 32-year-old Joanna Speaks and an as yet unidentified woman — with the other four. In fact, authorities later said the death of the unidentified woman was not suspicious, the Oregonian reported.
The DA’s office did not say what information linked the four deaths or what linked them to Calhoun. As recently as early June, investigators had said there was “no reason to believe” the cases are related, as CrimeOnline previously reported.
In a statement on June 5, Portland Police Bureau acknowledged the investigation into the six deaths and noted they were not involved in some of them, which fell under the jurisdiction of Multnomah, Polk, and Clark Counties.
“While any premature death is concerning, and we will diligently investigate deaths that happen in our jurisdiction in collaboration with the Multnomah County and Oregon State Medical Examiner’s offices, PPB has no reason to believe these 6 cases are connected,” the agency said, adding that it was in communication with the other agencies about the cases.
PPB cosigned the statement from the district attorney’s office on Monday announcing the “person of interest” in four of the cases.
Calhoun, who has a long history of felony conviction dating back to 2004, pleaded guilty in November 2019 to a number of felonies, including burglary, unauthorized possession of a stolen vehicle, and injuring an officer and a police dog when they tried to arrest him. He was serving four concurrent sentences — the longest was 50 months — and was originally projected to be released in June 2022, Willamette Week reported.
After his stint as a firefighter, then-Gov. Kate Brown granted him a “conditional clemency” and released him on July 22, 2021.
Last month, Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt requested that Calhoun’s commutation be revoked, according to the Oregonian.
>“Since his release from custody pursuant to this commutation, Mr. Calhoun has been involved in criminal activity currently under investigation by Oregon law enforcement,” Schmidt wrote to Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek’s office.
Betty Bernt, a spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Corrections, said that Calhoun was “admitted back to DOC custody” on July 6 to serve the rest of his sentence, until June 9, 2024.
So far, he has not been charged in connection with the four murders, but law enforcement sources say they expect that to change.
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[Featured image: Jesse Lee Calhoun/Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office]
