A “person of interest” in the deaths of four women earlier in the year has been identified as an Oregon “career criminal” who had been released ahead of schedule from prison just over two years ago.
Six women were found dead within a radius of one hundred miles in Washington and Oregon between the months of February and May of the current year. Their remains were found by investigators from a number of different law enforcement organizations. Investigators eventually discovered a person who could be connected to the four women: Bridget Webster, 31, Ashley Real, 22, Kristin Smith, 22, and Charity Lynn Perry, 24. Initial investigations initially discounted a connection between the incidents, but additional findings revealed that there was a relationship.
The “person of interest of which has been connected to all four of the decedents” has been identified by several media sites as 38-year-old Jesse Lee Calhoun from Portland, despite the fact that the individual was not named in a joint news statement from the Multnomah County DA’s office. According to the Post Millennial, police have previously referred to Calhoun as being a “prolific thief as well as career criminal” who had previously been both in and out of prison ever since 2004.
2019 saw the start of Calhoun’s sentence for a number of offences, including strangling a police dog, possessing a stolen car, hurting a police officer, and burglary. In June 2022, he was supposed to be released. He did, however, sign up to combat wildfires on Labor Day weekend in 2020 along with other prisoners. Because of his volunteer work and ongoing COVID worries, Democratic then-Gov. Kate Brown chose Calhoun to be one of the 1,000 prisoners in Oregon who would be granted mercy the next year. Nearly a year early, in July 2021, he was allowed to leave prison.
On July 3, 2023, the new Democratic governor Tina Kotek revoked Calhoun’s pardon at the request of the police. Calhoun allegedly attempted to avoid capture by diving into the Willamette River, which is located in Milwaukie, Oregon, roughly south of Portland, as authorities arrived to arrest him for a potential parole violation. He was ultimately apprehended in the river and taken into jail at Ontario’s Snake River Correctional Institution, where he will likely complete the remainder of the term he started in 2019. On June 9, 2024, he is currently expected to be released once more.
