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A man accused of killing several women and dumping their bodies in the Portland area was arraigned Wednesday on a fifth murder charge.
Jesse Calhoun’s defense attorney entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf in a Portland courtroom where victims’ family members were present. The hearing, during which Calhoun remained silent, came after he was indicted last week on the most recent second-degree murder charge over the death of Ashley Real, 22, in 2023.
Calhoun has now been charged with five counts of second-degree murder for five victims, along with four counts of abuse of a corpse. The victims’ bodies were found over multiple months in early 2023, sparking concern at the time that a serial killer might be targeting young women in the region.
Calhoun was previously indicted in the deaths of Kristin Smith, 22; Charity Perry, 24; Bridget Webster, 31; and Joanna Speaks, 32.
Real, Perry, Webster and Smith were found in northwestern Oregon, while Speaks was found near an abandoned barn in southwestern Washington. Their bodies were found in a roughly 100-mile radius, including in wooded areas and in a culvert.
Isabel Funk/The Oregonian via AP, Pool
Real’s father, Jose Real, previously told the Associated Press that he had called police in November 2022 after his daughter showed up at his Portland home crying. She had marks on her throat, he said, and told him that she had been choked by Calhoun. Real said he took her to a hospital and that an initial police report was taken, but the case was then transferred to a different jurisdiction, where it became difficult to reach those overseeing it.
Real’s body was found in May 2023 by a man who was fishing in a pond southeast of Portland.
Calhoun was arrested in June 2023 on unrelated parole warrants and then indicted in 2024 and 2025 in the other four women’s deaths. The initial indictment came weeks before Calhoun was due to be released from state prison, where he was returned in 2023 to finish serving a four-year term for assaulting a police officer, trying to strangle a police dog, burglary and other charges.
He was initially released in 2021, a year early, because he helped fight wildfires in 2020 under a prison firefighting program. Gov. Tina Kotek revoked the commutation in 2023 when police began investigating him in the deaths.
A trial date has yet to be set. Calhoun remains in custody at the Multnomah County Detention Center. His defense attorneys declined to comment.
Claire Rush via AP 
Jose Real was in tears as he spoke with reporters after the hearing. He spoke through a Spanish interpreter, according to CBS affiliate KOIN.
“I never thought or imagined that my family would experience something like this,” he said. “I’m still really grateful with God because now there’s someone responsible. He’s named for what happened to my daughter.”
Masciell Real, Ashley’s sister, also spoke through tears.
“My sister isn’t here anymore and he’s allowed to be behind bars, maybe with still a life,” she said, according to KOIN. “But my sister doesn’t have a life anymore. And she was… her dignity was taken away from this.”
Relatives of other victims were also present for the arraignment. Diana Allen, the mother of Charity Perry, told KOIN that it was the first time she had been in the room with Calhoun.
“So the strong part is that I’m here for the other families, and that gets to release me from the emotional attachment,” Allen said. “The other side is, do you have any idea, as a parent, what it is not to fly across that room and show him what a woman can do?”
