Person of Interest in Four Portland Murders Has Criminal History in Baker County
By Joe Hathaway on Tuesday, July 18th, 2023 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
BAKER COUNTY — The person of interest in the deaths of four women in the Portland area once served prison time in Baker County.
Multiple sources at different agencies confirmed that 38-year-old Jesse Lee Calhoun is the person of interest in the murders of four women whose bodies were discovered this past spring and winter. Willamette Week first reported Calhoun’s name.
The announcement that the fourth deaths may be connected came from the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office Monday morning. It is unknown how Calhoun is connected to the four deaths, but he does have an extensive criminal history.
According to the Department of Corrections, in 2019 Calhoun was charged with three counts of unauthorized use of a vehicle, one count of assaulting a public safety officer and one count of first-degree burglary. He was sentenced to prison with an original projected release date of June 2022.
However, in 2021, then-governor Kate Brown signed a commutation order providing clemency to certain prisoners who met the criteria. Calhoun was one of those prisoners and was released on July 22, 2021.
Elkhorn Media Group has confirmed that he also served time from January 2009 through January 2011 in Baker County for fourth-degree assault. On July 3, Governor Kotek’s office said they received a request to revoke Calhoun’s commutation status, which was signed the same day.
The Baker County Sheriff’s Office stated the following:
“The Baker County Sheriff’s Office confirms that according to their records there were police contacts and several arrests for a Jesse Calhoun in Baker City from 2003 to 2008.”
Court records obtained by Elkhorn Media Group show that Calhoun was arrested in 2008 for assaulting and kidnapping a woman in Baker City. A subsequent plea deal was made where he pled guilty to the assault charge and agreed to the two-year sentence in exchange for the kidnapping charge to be dropped. Calhoun is currently back in custody at Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario to complete his sentence with a projected release date of June 9, 2024.
He has not been charged in connection to the deaths of the four women.
