A new indictment has shed light on how a suspected serial killer in Oregon murdered three women and hid their bodies in just over 50 days.
Jesse Lee Calhoun, 39, was charged this month with the second-degree murders of Charity Lynn Perry, 24, Joanna Speaks, 32, and 31-year-old Bridget Leanne Webster.
A newly released indictment provided the first clear timeline regarding the women whose disappearances roiled the Portland area last year.
In addition to second-degree murder charges, he also faces three counts of abuse of a corpse.
The two-page document reveals few details but shows that authorities called 16 witnesses for a closed-door grand jury proceeding earlier this month.
The indictment accuses Calhoun of killing Perry on March 8, 2023. Her body was found seven weeks later, on April 24, near Ainsworth State Park.
This undated photo from the Oregon Department of Corrections shows Jesse Calhoun
A recently released indictment provided the first clear timeline regarding the women whose disappearances roiled the area last year. Charity Perry, left, and Bridget Webster, right, are both seen here
Joanna Speaks’ family had previously said they believe she died trying to defend herself
Ten days afterward, he is charged with Speaks’ murder, and her body is found three weeks later in an abandoned property in Ridgefield.
It was later determined that Speaks had been murdered in Portland and her body subsequently moved. Autopsy records show she was killed by blunt force trauma to the head.
Her death is the only one of the three in which the manner of death has been revealed.
According to the indictment, Calhoun killed Webster on April 26. Her body was found four days later in Polk County.
Perry’s mother Diana Allen says her daughter was known to frequent a drug market in downtown Portland, where officers say she was last seen.
Allen only recently learned that her daughter overdosed in the area on March 6 and was taken to the hospital.
The timing of her reported death, just two days later, is painful for Allen, who narrated it NBC24: ‘That’s the hardest thing to process.’
Now that she knew the date of her death, Allen told the outlet that she would add it to her daughter’s headstone.
Speaks’ family had previously said they believe she died trying to defend herself.
Speaks’ body was found three weeks after her death on an abandoned property in Ridgefield, seen here
Calhoun has also identified himself as a person of interest in the deaths of 22-year-old Kristin Smith, left, and 22-year-old Ashley Real, right.
Her sister Robyn Speaks previously told KOIN: “She was fearless. I guarantee she fought back.”
Speaks had a seven-year-old daughter and two teenage sons, according to her sister.
Calhoun has also identified himself as a person of interest in the deaths of 22-year-old Kristin Smith and 22-year-old Ashley Real.
Calhoun has a lengthy criminal record, with felony convictions dating back nearly two decades.
He was reportedly a talented artist, who told booking officials he made a living painting designs on vehicles.
His first felony conviction occurred in 2004. In 2018, he was arrested again with meth, several guns and more than 500 rounds of ammunition.
The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office called him a “prolific thief and career criminal.” In 2019 he received four sentences, which were to run concurrently.
Calhoun has a lengthy criminal record, with felony convictions dating back nearly two decades
Calhoun was one of 41 inmates whose sentences were reduced by a year in 2021 by then-Governor Kate Brown after helping fight devastating wildfires in Oregon.
Calhoun was released from Columbia River Correctional Institution on July 22, 2021, almost a year before his expected release date.
He served a 50-month prison sentence for assaulting a police officer, attempting to strangle a police dog, burglary and unlawful use of a vehicle.
The 6-foot-2 suspect, who has a history of resisting arrest, jumped into the Willamette River in Milwaukie and tried to escape when he was found July 6.
The district attorney’s office said a date had not yet been set for his first court appearance on the new charges, and he remains at the Snake River Correctional Institution.