Between February and May 2023, the bodies of four young women were found in and around the Portland area within a radius of roughly a hundred miles: in wooded areas, in a culvert, under a bridge, and in an abandoned barn in southwest Washington. Charity Lynn Perry, twenty-four, was found near Ainsworth State Park in the Columbia River Gorge. Bridget Leann Webster was thirty-one; Joanna Speaks, thirty-two, was the woman found in the barn. Kristin Smith, twenty-two, was found too. The discoveries raised fears that a serial killer was targeting young women in the region. Police said at first that they had found no link between the deaths.
Jesse Lee Calhoun was arrested in June 2023 on unrelated parole warrants. Described by the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office as a "prolific thief and career criminal," he had a record going back to when he was eighteen, including prison time from 2009 to 2011 for fourth-degree assault. In 2019 he was charged with three counts of unauthorized use of a vehicle, assaulting a public safety officer and first-degree burglary; court documents say that when a SWAT team came to arrest him he resisted, tried to choke a police dog and kicked an officer repeatedly. He was serving a four-year sentence when, in July 2021, he was among the prisoners granted clemency by Governor Kate Brown for fighting wildfires, about a year before his scheduled release in June 2022. Records show he met the corrections and forestry criteria for a fire crew and had a record of good conduct in prison. Public records indicate he violated the terms of his release several times and stayed free. When he was named a person of interest, Brown was widely criticized; she said she was "absolutely horrified" for the victims and their families.
In May 2024 a Multnomah County grand jury indicted him on three counts of second-degree murder and three of second-degree abuse of a corpse in the deaths of Perry, Webster and Speaks. "There's still more work to be done. Investigations are ongoing," said the district attorney at the time, Mike Schmidt. He pleaded not guilty.
On August 5, 2025, District Attorney Nathan Vasquez announced a fourth indictment, for the murder of Kristin Smith, adding one count each of second-degree murder and abuse of a corpse. Prosecutors dated her death to November 2022. "I've always stayed hopeful that I would get justice for Kristin," her mother, Melissa Smith, said. "I thank every single person who didn't give up on this case." In May 2026 prosecutors charged him with the murder of a fifth woman, Ashley Real, twenty-two, found dead in the Portland area in the spring of 2023, and he was arraigned on that indictment on June 3.
On September 16, 2026, a grand jury indicted him on a charge of first-degree manslaughter in the death of Elizabeth "Libby" Gibson, thirty-two, of Portland. Prosecutors said she died on or about November 18, 2022, which would make her the first of the six. She had been reported missing by a friend only in March 2023, and her remains have not been found. Prosecutors said they brought manslaughter rather than murder because without her body or any witness to the killing that was the charge the evidence supported. "She was a true light in this world," her childhood friend Lisa Shaw said. "Just to hear that it's a for sure thing, to hear that she's never coming back... it's just really heartbreaking." Gibson's family called the indictment "a definitive step toward justice."
Calhoun pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter charge on September 21, 2026. "Adding these names to it makes that wait worth it," said Diana Allen, Charity Perry's mother. His court-appointed lawyer, Cameron Taylor, has declined to comment. None of the charges has been tried, and the trial was expected to take place in 2027.