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CLUES EMERGE ABOUT HOW POORLY JESSE LEE CALHOUN WAS MONITORED

ONE OF THE WOMEN CALHOUN IS SUSPECTED OF KILLING, ASHLEY REAL, FILED A COMPLAINT
OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND STRANGULATION AGAINST HIM.

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The body of Charity Perry was discovered in the Columbia River Gorge on April
24. (Daniel Stindt)

By Nigel Jaquiss and Lucas Manfield
July 25, 2023 at 6:03 pm PDT

As investigators from multiple jurisdictions work toward indictments of
suspected serial killer Jesse Lee Calhoun, WW has over the past week reported
more background and context about his situation.

Calhoun, 38, is in state custody at the Snake River Correctional Institution in
Ontario for violating the terms of his post-incarceration supervision. Gov. Tina
Kotek revoked a conditional commutation that former Gov. Kate Brown issued to
Calhoun and 40 other inmate firefighters in 2021, shaving up to 12 months off
their sentences.

Kotek’s office has declined to comment on Calhoun, citing a pending criminal
investigation. That is the same stance that all involved police agencies and
prosecutor’s offices have taken.

In the meantime, here’s what we’ve learned about Calhoun since WW first
identified him July 16 as a suspect in the deaths of four women: Kristin Smith,
Charity Perry, Bridget Webster, and Ashley Real.

Calhoun may have violated the terms of his release. Public records show that on
three occasions, Calhoun may have violated the requirement in his conditional
commutation that he obey all laws after he was released early in July 2021.

In May 2022, a Clackamas man sought a stalking order against Calhoun, alleging
in a court filing that Calhoun followed and threatened him (a judge dismissed
the request). In October 2022, Calhoun was charged with and subsequently
convicted of driving while suspended. In November 2022, one of the women Calhoun
is suspected of killing, Ashley Real, filed a complaint of domestic violence and
strangulation against Calhoun with the Portland Police Bureau.

PPB referred the complaint to the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, which, like
the Police Bureau, declined to comment.

Real was last seen on March 27, 2023—four months after she filed the complaint
against Calhoun. Her body was found May 7 in Clackamas County.

Other inmate firefighters also stumbled after release. Records show that 11 of
the 41 inmates released for their work fighting wildfires in 2020 have
subsequently been arrested on felony charges, and two others have been arrested
for misdemeanors. In none of those cases did the governor’s office revoke the
commutations, as it did in Calhoun’s case this June.

Although the rates of arrest are in line with typical recidivism findings in
Oregon, the state’s two GOP members of Congress last week asked Gov. Tina Kotek
to examine the cases of the more than 1,000 inmates to whom Brown granted early
release. “We urge you to review every single conditional commutation granted by
Governor Brown,” wrote U.S. Reps. Lori Chavez-DeRemer and Cliff Bentz.

The DA abstained from vetting Calhoun’s commutation. The Multnomah County
District Attorney’s Office says through a spokeswoman it was not given a
“meaningful opportunity” to determine whether to support Calhoun’s commuted
sentence in March 2021. The DA’s office did not take a position on releasing
Calhoun—or on any of the 14 cases presented to it by the Oregon Department of
Corrections.

In contrast, the Washington County District Attorney’s Office objected to 17 of
the 19 proposed commutations submitted to it by the DOC, according to emails
reviewed by WW.

Multnomah County DA Mike Schmidt, like Gov. Brown, has pressed for progressive
reforms to the criminal justice system. But his office says the corrections
department gave prosecutors in Calhoun’s case only a week to weigh in, and did
not provide prosecutors the customary packet of information that includes an
application from the inmate, prison records, and any letters of support. The DOC
responds that the DA’s office did not ask for more time.

Four of the six inmates from Multnomah County whose sentences Brown commuted
were eventually arrested on felony charges after their release, according to a
WW review of court records.

Correction: An earlier version of this story stated incorrectly that Calhoun was
not one of the six inmates from Multnomah County. In fact, he is one of the six.
WW regrets the error.

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