Man with criminal history in Baker County indicted on murder charges for allegedly killing three women
By Joe Hathaway on Friday, May 17th, 2024 in Columbia Basin News Featured Stories Northeastern Oregon News
MULTNOMAH COUNTY – A man with a long criminal history in Baker County has now been indicted for the murders of three women who were found dead under suspicious circumstances last year.
The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office announced on Friday, May 17 that a grand jury has indicted Jesse Lee Calhoun, 39, on murder charges for the deaths of Charity Lynn Perry, 24, Bridget Leanne Webster, 31, and Joanna Speaks, 32. All three women were found deceased under suspicious circumstances in 2023.
Through an investigation involving multiple law enforcement agencies, investigators identified Jesse Calhoun as a suspect. Multnomah County prosecutors presented the case to a grand jury, which returned a true bill of indictment on May 16, 2024, for the following charges:
- Three counts of Murder in the Second Degree
- Three counts of Abuse of a Corpse in the Second Degree
Following the indictment, members of the DA’s Office and the investigation team notified the families of the charges.
Calhoun remains in custody at Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario, where he’s been since July, 2023 after Governor Tina Kotek’s office revoked his commutation status. He was serving time in prison but was released in 2021 after then-Governor Kate Brown signed a commutation order providing clemency to certain prisoners, which included Calhoun.
Elkhorn Media Group confirmed in 2023 that he also served time from January 2009 through January 2011 in Baker County for fourth-degree assault.
The Baker County Sheriff’s Office stated the following last year:
“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.
He is expected to be transferred to the custody of Multnomah County for arraignment on the indicted charges.
