Oregon prosecutors have charged Jesse Lee Calhoun, 41, with five murders, alleging he killed women between 2022 and 2023. Multnomah County officials say the investigation is still ongoing as Calhoun remains in court and denies wrongdoing.
By the time Jesse Lee Calhoun’s newest indictment landed, the list of alleged victims had already grown into a catalog of heartbreak stretching across months and counties.
On May 26. Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez told reporters that prosecutors are “dealing with five distinct tragedies tied to one individual.” His office says the accused Oregon man is now charged with killing five women between 2022 and 2023. with authorities emphasizing that they are still working the case.
“While the ethical rules limit what I can say about the evidence. I can say the scope of this case is massive. ” Vasquez said on the day of the announcement. When asked whether more victims could be connected. Multnomah County Senior Deputy District Attorney Melissa Marrero said prosecutors are “leaving no stone unturned.”.
“I am not confirming that there are additional victims at this point,” she said. “The investigation is still very much ongoing, however.”
Calhoun, 41, has pleaded not guilty, his attorney confirmed. Prosecutors say all of the alleged victims were women under 35.
The most recent charge centers on 22-year-old Ashley Real. Police say Real was last seen at a fast food restaurant in Portland on March 27, 2023, weeks before her body was found in a heavily wooded area in Eagle Creek. Authorities said some remains were located nearly 100 miles apart.
At an emotional news conference on May 26, Real’s family stood alongside Multnomah County prosecutors. Masciell Real said seeking justice for her sister has been “an extremely long, painful and traumatic journey.”
“Three years is a very long time to wait,” she said. “There was many days where I completely lost hope, and I woke up with grief consuming me. But every time I felt myself falling apart, I reminded myself that Ashley would want me to stay strong for her.”
Along with Real, Calhoun is facing murder and other charges tied to the deaths of Charity Lynn Perry, 24; Kristin Smith, 22; Joanna Speaks, 32; and Bridget Leann Webster, 31.
The case has taken years to build, and authorities say the timeline only adds to the shock. Calhoun’s alleged victims were found dead in various outdoor locations in and around northwestern Oregon between February and May 2023. Prosecutors say the latest charges arrive about two years after the first murder charges were filed.
As evidence emerged about the women’s deaths, Portland police initially dismissed concerns that the cases were connected in June 2023. Officials appeared to reverse course a month later, saying law enforcement had determined there were links between four of the cases.
In 2024, Calhoun was charged with the murder of Perry, Speaks, and Webster. In August 2025, prosecutors charged him with killing Smith.
The alleged pattern, prosecutors say, is tied to Calhoun’s history as well. Before the alleged killings. authorities say he was serving time in prison on charges including unauthorized use of a vehicle and burglary. Then-Gov. Kate Brown commuted his sentence. along with 40 other prisoners who had helped fight wildfires. and he was released in 2021 about a year early.
John Plock, a spokesperson, confirmed that the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office received a referral report from the Portland Police Bureau in November 2022 involving a “cold domestic violence strangulation allegation” that named Calhoun as the suspect.
The allegation came from a statement previously made by Jose Real to the Oregonian/Oregon Live and the Associated Press. Jose Real said his daughter reported being strangled and assaulted by Calhoun in November 2022, about a week before prosecutors say Calhoun killed Smith.
Police say Smith was reported missing the following month, but it wasn’t until February 2023 that her remains were found in a wooded area near the Portland neighborhood of Pleasant Valley.
Officials believe Real, Speaks, and Perry were all killed in March 2023. Speaks was later found near an abandoned barn, and police said her body appeared to have been moved to that location. The Clark County Medical Examiner determined she died of blunt head and neck injuries.
Perry was found dead “under suspicious circumstances in a culvert near Ainsworth State Park,” according to the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office. Police said Perry frequently visited downtown Portland and Vancouver, Washington.
Calhoun is accused of killing Webster in April 2023, according to the indictment. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said Webster was last known to frequent Portland, Oregon City and Milwaukie.
A sixth woman was found dead in a tent on the same day Perry was located in a neighborhood not far from where Smith’s body was recovered. Portland police said at the time there was “no indication that foul play was suspected by the ME responder on scene.”
Behind the scenes, prosecutors say, the case required coordination across jurisdictions. A Multnomah County prosecutor asked Gov. Tina Kotek to revoke Calhoun’s commutation, and he returned to prison on July 7, 2023, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported. The district attorney’s office later announced it had been working for months with investigators and prosecutors across the state and that a “person of interest” had been identified in four of the killings.
The sequence the state is presenting depends on timing and location: multiple deaths found between February and May 2023; some remains nearly 100 miles apart; and earlier allegations that. authorities say. were tied to Calhoun before the killings prosecutors now charge. For the families who have waited. the new indictment turns uncertainty into court scrutiny—while officials insist the story is not fully closed.
For Calhoun, the charges now span five murder allegations with a not-guilty plea as the investigation continues. For the people affected, the next step is a system that moves slowly—yet, in their words, has taken years too long.
Jesse Lee Calhoun Oregon prosecutors serial killer charged Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez Ashley Real Kristin Smith Charity Lynn Perry Joanna Speaks Bridget Leann Webster murder charges Tina Kotek Kate Brown commutation
So how many did he actually kill… 5? or more like everyone keeps saying?
I don’t get how they can call it 5 murders but the investigation is “still ongoing.” Like are they just waiting for more proof or what. Also he’s denying it so he’s probably guilty if they already indicted, right?
They say ethical rules limit what they can say about the evidence… but meanwhile everyone on the news acts like they know everything. I swear these cases always start with one victim and then magically turn into 5, and half the time it’s because someone recognized him from TikTok or something.
Five women between 2022 and 2023 is just awful. I keep seeing “massive scope” like that means multiple killers though? If it’s one guy then why not just say it clearly instead of saying “leaving no stone unturned.” Also 41 doesn’t even feel old enough for this to be some long thing, unless he was doing it longer but they don’t have the dates right.