Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez speaks at a news conference May 26, 2026, announcing charges in the death of Ashley Real.
Screenshot Multnomah County District Attorney's office
Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez held a news conference Tuesday announcing a soon-to-be fifth murder charge against a man already suspected of killing women in the wider Portland metro area.
“We are here to announce that we are expecting, and by expecting I mean either this afternoon or tomorrow, a new indictment of the murder of Ashley Real,” Vasquez said. “This indictment will charge Jesse Calhoun with one count of murder in the second degree.”
Calhoun is currently in custody at the Multnomah County Detention Center.
Jesse Lee Calhoun is seen in Multnomah County Circuit Court for his arraignment on Thursday in Portland, Ore. Calhoun entered not guilty pleas Thursday to all charges in the criminal case involving the second-degree murder charges in the deaths of Charity Lynn Perry, 24; Bridget Leanne Webster, 31; and Joanna Speaks, 32.
Dave Killen / AP
In May 2024, Calhoun was first indicted for the deaths of 31-year-old Bridget Leann Webster, 24-year-old Charity Lynn Perry and 32-year-old Joanna Speaks.
In August 2025, he was charged with murdering 22-year-old Kristin Smith.
The pending grand jury indictment Vasquez announced Tuesday brings some closure after investigators first announced in July 2023 that Calhoun was a person of interest in the deaths of several women throughout northwestern Oregon.
Real’s body was found in Clackamas County on May 7, 2023. She was reported missing in Portland about a month before.
During Tuesday’s news conference, Real’s family thanked law enforcement and spoke about the heartbreak they’ve endured as detectives worked the case for the past three years.
“They always told me it was going to be a hard case,” Real’s mother, Maria Trinidad Jimenez, said Tuesday, speaking through an interpreter.
“Finally we are here, to know that now there is someone being named for taking the life of my daughter. These three years have been really long for me and my family.”
Multnomah County Senior Deputy District Attorney Melissa Marrero said the investigation remains ongoing.
“I am not confirming that there are any additional victims at this point,” Marrero said. “Today marks a significant moment in this case.”
Vasquez declined to discuss the evidence ahead of any bail hearing, but did say prosecutors would seek to try all five cases together.
“We believe that there are factors and reasons that warrant and justify these cases being tried jointly,” Vasquez said Tuesday.
Calhoun has a criminal history.
He was serving a prison sentence for a 2019 conviction on stolen vehicle and burglary charges when then-Gov. Kate Brown commuted his sentence in June 2021. He and 40 other people were released from prison after participating in firefighting efforts.
The commutation shaved about a year off Calhoun’s sentence that was set to end in December 2022.
According to court records, Calhoun allegedly killed Smith on or around Nov. 20, 2022. Smith is the first woman in the suspected string of killings who was reported missing in December.
