PORTLAND, Ore. — The man reported to be a person of interest in the deaths of four Portland women over the past six months has a lengthy criminal history and was released from prison a year early in 2021 when he received clemency from Gov. Kate Brown, multiple media outlets reported Monday. He is currently back in prison, having been arrested in early June on unrelated parole violation charges.
The Multnomah County District Attorney's Office announced Monday that law enforcement agencies had discovered links between the cases of Kristin Smith, Charity Perry, Bridget Webster and Ashley Real, who were all found dead in mostly rural locations around Portland starting in February. Portland police previously said in early June that they had no reason to believe the cases were connected.
The DA's office said a person of interest had been identified in the cases, but did not release the person's name or any further information. The Willamette Week reported Monday that the person of interest is 38-year-old Jesse Lee Calhoun, citing law enforcement sources.
Willamette Week also reported that Calhoun was released from prison early in July 2021 after being granted a "conditional commutation" by Gov. Kate Brown due to his service as an inmate wildland firefighter. He was originally scheduled to be released 12 months later, according to Willamette Week.
He was arrested again June 6 of this year for violating his conditions of his parole, Willamette Week reported, and Gov. Tina Kotek's office confirmed Monday that it had received and granted a request from the Multnomah County DA's Office on July 3 to revoke Calhoun's commutation status. State records show Calhoun has been incarcerated at the Snake River Correctional Institution since July 6.
Court records show Calhoun has a lengthy criminal history stretching back to July 2003, when he was charged with two counts of assault. He was charged with assault, strangulation and harassment in December of 2007, and then kidnapping, assault and harassment in June 2008.
His record then shows more than 60 charges or citations over a period from August 2013 to April 2019 including aggravated theft, burglary, resisting arrest and assaulting a public safety officer.
His most recent listed offense — and the only one since 2019 to appear in court records as of Monday — was another driving while suspended violation in October 2022.