Jesse Calhoun appeared in Portland court Wednesday to face a new murder charge, bringing the total count against him to five deaths spanning Oregon and Washington. His attorney entered a not guilty plea to the second-degree murder of Ashley Real, a 22-year-old woman whose body was discovered in a pond in Clackamas County in May 2023.
Real had previously accused Calhoun of choking her. In November 2022, she arrived at her father's Portland home in tears, showing marks on her neck. Her father, Jose Real, drove her to a hospital and subsequently reported the incident to police.
The 41-year-old defendant now faces five counts of second-degree murder and four counts of abuse of a corpse. Prosecutors signaled their intention to consolidate all five cases into a single trial next year rather than pursue separate proceedings. Calhoun did not speak during Wednesday's brief arraignment.
The other alleged victims are Kristin Smith, 22; Charity Perry, 24; Bridget Webster, 31; and Joanna Speaks, 32. Their remains were discovered between 2022 and 2023. Speaks was found in an abandoned barn in southwestern Washington, while the others were recovered in Oregon. All five victims were located within roughly 100 miles of one another.
Family members of the deceased gathered in the courtroom to witness the proceeding. Masciell Real, Ashley's sister, spoke afterward about the emotional weight of seeing Calhoun behind bars.
"I think being in that courtroom today and being able to see him, and know that he is behind bars now, it takes the weight off my shoulders knowing that he isn't around and free to cause any harm to any other women out there," she said.
Melissa Smith, mother of victim Kristin Smith, also attended. "We've all experienced the worst thing that could ever happen to you, and it's incredibly hard to see one of the other families hurt the way we do," she said.
Calhoun's arrest history adds another layer to the case. He was arrested in June 2023 on parole violations and later indicted in May 2024 in connection with three of the deaths. The most recent charge, involving Kristin Smith, came in August 2024, more than two years after her remains were found.
At the time of his 2023 arrest, Calhoun was serving the final stretch of a four-year sentence in state prison for assaulting a police officer, attempting to strangle a police dog, burglary, and other offenses. He had been released a year early in 2021 after participating in Oregon's prison firefighting program during the 2020 wildfire season.
When authorities began investigating Calhoun in connection with the deaths, Democratic Governor Tina Kotek revoked his commutation in 2023, returning him to custody.
Author James Rodriguez: "The consolidation of these cases into one trial is the prosecutor's best play to establish a pattern, though the legal strategy raises questions about jury impartiality when multiple deaths are tried together."
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