Going West: True Crime - Jesse Lee Calhoun // 378

Starting point is 00:00:00 What is going on, true crime fans? I'm your host Heath. And I'm your host Daphne. And you're listening to Going West. Hello everybody, hope you're doing well. A bunch of you guys suggested this case about a year ago when it was all happening and you may remember it from social media and the news because it was everywhere. But due to how police treated the case originally, we didn't know if there really was a serial killer in Northern Oregon.

Starting point is 00:00:37 But a lot has come out since then so we are finally covering it. So thank you to everyone who sent this over social media and email at the time. Also, before we dive into this case, I wanna remind everybody that we do have bonus episodes. We have over 100 full length ad-free bonus episodes that you guys have not heard on Going West. And last month we came out with two both Australian cases, one of which is particularly insane about a teenager who was lured via MySpace.

Starting point is 00:01:07 It's so crazy. So check that out on Apple Podcast and patreon.com slash going west podcast. Yeah, and we don't just cover international cases, but we like to give you guys and the listeners from all around the world, you know, just a little something extra. So sometimes we cover Canadian cases, Australian cases, sometimes us US last month I weirdly just accidentally chose to Australian so... Yeah, yeah, yeah. It happens. But definitely go check it out, patreon.com.

Starting point is 00:01:33 And if you're an Apple user, you can try free for 7 days so do it. Alright guys, this is episode 378 of Going West, so let's get into it. All right guys, this is episode 378 of Going West, so let's get into it. In the early months of 2023, six women turned up dead in and around Portland, Oregon, sparking rumors of a serial killer. Though police originally claimed they did not believe that the cases were connected, similarities emerged between four of the women and one man linked them all.

Starting point is 00:02:47 and link them all. These are the stories of Kristen Smith, Charity Perry, Bridget Webster, Joanna Speaks, Ashley story of Jesse Lee Calhoun. In the span of less than three months, six women were found dead in the vicinity of Portland, Oregon. All six women died under suspicious circumstances, and all of them were recovered from wooded areas. 22-year-old Kristin Smith was reported missing on December 22nd, 2022 by her family, so let's dive into her story first. A resident of Gresham, Oregon, which is a city in the Portland area, weeks went by without anybody seeing or hearing from Kristen.

Starting point is 00:03:53 Kristen's mom, Melissa Smith, recalled sadly, quote, Kristen originally went missing at the beginning of December. Last time I spoke to her was November 19. After nearly two months of search efforts from police and her family, her body was discovered in a wooded area in Pleasant Valley, Oregon, which is about 15 minutes southwest of Gresham. Though police declined to publish her cause of death, they acknowledged that foul play was possible.

Starting point is 00:04:23 Melissa called her daughter a gentle person who loved art and animals. And while recalling their final evening together, she said, quote, I had dinner with her the last time I saw her and spoke about her cat. She loved her cat very, very much. I think of her every moment of every day.

Starting point is 00:04:41 What happened? I know she didn't just suddenly die out there. Somebody did something. She also said, quote, we always have a piece of Kristen with us. We have her cat. Following the discovery of Kristen's body on February 19th, 2023,

Starting point is 00:04:59 the victims continued to pile up, which is what started this growing theory that someone in the Portland area was hunting and targeting women and frequently. Because less than two months later, on April 8, 2023, 32-year-old mother of three, Joanna Speaks, was discovered deceased inside an abandoned barn. This death was an anomaly, as Joanna was actually recovered across the Oregon, Washington border in the state of Washington. The barn was located on the

Starting point is 00:05:32 8,000 block of South Fifth Street in Ridgefield, Washington, which is about 30 minutes north of Portland and 40 minutes from where Kristen Smith was found deceased. And we're gonna post a Google Street view for you guys to see, but this street has a few businesses, like a water utility company, a distribution center, a solar company office, and a few others, like in that same vein, but otherwise, there's just a lot of trees and large fields of grass. And right where the abandoned barn in question is,

Starting point is 00:06:01 there's a field and tall trees. It's actually a really beautiful street, but a very bizarre place for her to tall trees. It's actually a really beautiful street, but a very bizarre place for her to be found. It's pretty specific. So I'd imagine that her killer would have known that street to find it and know the barn was abandoned as well. Now, although police would not disclose why,

Starting point is 00:06:19 they announced that they had, quote, reason to believe that Joanna was killed in Portland and then dumped in Washington. She's believed to have been placed inside the barn days or even weeks after her death, but based on the amount of decomposition, investigators maintain that she had been killed and held elsewhere, then transported to the barn

Starting point is 00:06:41 sometime after she was murdered. Joanna was a recovering addict who had suffered from meth addiction, and her sister claimed that she believed Joanna had started to experiment with fentanyl as well. However, though drugs may have played a role in her murder, Joanna was the only one of six women with a cause of death that was announced at the time to be a clear homicide,

Starting point is 00:07:04 having sustained blunt force injuries to her head and neck. Her family remembered that Joanna, who is described as bold, hilarious and stubborn, had been working towards sobriety on behalf of her three children in the weeks before her death. On April 24th, 2023, the body of 24 year old Charity Perry was discovered inside of a culvert

Starting point is 00:07:28 near the East Historic Columbia River Highway, just outside of Portland and Troutdale, which is also a very naturey area that has businesses sprinkled nearby. The specific area from which Charity was recovered was near Ainsworth State Park, which the highway dissects and it's situated along the Columbia River, which divides Oregon and Washington. Investigators believed that she had been deceased for as long as two weeks by the time she was found. Charity's mom, Diana Allen, said that Charity didn't have a driver's license and was unfamiliar with that area of Multnomah County and therefore would not have been able to get herself to the remote culvert in which

Starting point is 00:08:09 she was found. Which just proves that somebody put her there or somebody had transported her there either way. Exactly. So Charity struggled with mental health issues for most of her life, having been diagnosed with schizophrenia at a young age. But her mother Diana checked in with her daughter as often as possible, though she was known to disappear for weeks at a time, often living in tents and engaging in drug use.

Starting point is 00:08:34 In January of 2023, she stopped hearing from Charity and traveled to Vancouver, Washington, where her daughter was known to camp, but she found no sign of her. So she was worried enough to go out there herself looking. But then, on March 6, 2023, she received a call from Charity at a hospital after she had overdosed and was rushed to a Portland Medical Center for treatment with Narcan. Police determined that she had also been spotted at an area in downtown Portland that they referred to as an open-air fentanyl market before her death. Diana remarked quote, this hurts so bad. My daughter had such bad mental health issues and any

Starting point is 00:09:15 hope of her getting better is gone. It's gone now and a horrid ache replaced it. She had an amazing personality when her mental health was under control. Because of Charity's struggles with mental health and drug use, Diana didn't even realize that her daughter was in trouble until it was too late, so Charity was never reported missing. And Charity was found deceased about six or seven weeks after this incident happened where she ended up in a hospital, and remember, Heath had said that police believe that she had been dead for at least two weeks

Starting point is 00:09:48 when they found her. So she only died, again, apparently from suspicious circumstances a month after this stint in the hospital. So that must have just been so traumatic for her mom. She had just been out there looking for her. And then suddenly she turns up dead before her mom even knows that she's missing again. Right, and her mom Diana said later, quote, she was a person and she was very loved.

Starting point is 00:10:15 I think sometimes appearances and lifestyles can somehow dismiss that idea. Well, that same day, I mean that very same day, yet another body was discovered. Sadly, this victim has yet to be identified, but this woman, believed to be between the ages of 25 and 40, was found in the Lent's neighborhood of southeast Portland, inside of a tent near Interstate 205. Standing at 5'1 and weighing about 135 pounds, she's believed to be of Native American or Alaskan Native descent, with medium length black hair. She also sported two tattoos, a Buddha and a music note with a letter V.

Starting point is 00:10:56 And to see a sketch of what she is believed to have looked like, head over to our socials, we're on Instagram at Going West podcast, we're on Twitter at going west pod and we're also on Facebook Yes, she is the only unidentified victim of this story But her family is probably out there somewhere looking for her So make sure that you circulate that image and thank you in advance. Yeah, I mean around this time People were really starting to get this sense You know as Daphne mentioned that there was that these murders were connected and that there was a potential serial killer in this area. Oh yeah, especially because just six days after this, a fifth woman was found, so people

Starting point is 00:11:34 are starting to get really, really worried here. Now 31 year old Bridget Webster hailed from Milwaukee, Oregon, which is just about 15 minutes south of Portland. Bridget's grandfather, Tom Frude, who raised her, said of her quote, "'She was fantastic. "'Great student, always smiling, always happy. "'She was my little girl.'" He did say, however, that in recent years,

Starting point is 00:11:59 Bridget had kind of fallen out of touch with him and her late grandmother, who were her legal guardians from the time that she was four years old. So because they had fallen out of touch with him and her late grandmother, who were her legal guardians from the time she was 4 years old. So because they had fallen out of touch a bit, Bridget had also not been reported missing. Then one week later, the sixth deceased woman in the string of gruesome discoveries was found by a fisherman in the heavily wooded area of Eagle Creek, which is about 30 minutes southeast of Portland. So everybody is being found. All these women are being discovered deceased within, you know,

Starting point is 00:12:32 30 to 40 miles of Portland or less. 22 year old Ashley Rae Al was last spotted on the surveillance footage of a fast food restaurant on March 27th, 2023. On April 4th, 2023. On April 4th, so after a week with no contact, she was reported missing by her family. Then a little over a month later on May 7th, a fisherman scoping out a nearby pond in Eagle Creek came upon her discarded body.

Starting point is 00:13:02 And out of all the women that we've talked about, this area is definitely the most rural. This is like a hiking area, whereas everybody else, if they were found in a more naturey spot, it was still near other businesses or a highway. But this is a little bit out there. Ashley's devastated father, Jose Real, said, quote, maybe you don't have a daughter. You don't have a son now. But believe me, when somebody loses a daughter. You don't have a son now, but believe me,

Starting point is 00:13:25 when somebody loses a daughter or son, so sad. I cannot protect her. I cannot be with her that day. I always want her to be cared for and I feel so sad because I miss that day. I missed that day. Members of the victims' families teamed up to spread the word about their daughters' deaths and comfort each other in their time of grief. Charity's mom, Diana, admitted, quote, "'I'm in the dark about a lot,' but added, quote, "'The detective and I understand why this is required.

Starting point is 00:14:00 "'We don't need anything messing up this investigation.'" Understandably so, the death sent the Portland area into a frenzy with rumors of a serial killer stalking the city, especially since nearly every cause of death wasn't being released to the public, leaving people with many concerns and questions. On Sunday, June 4th, 2023, the Portland Police Bureau issued a press release indicating that

Starting point is 00:14:27 investigators did not believe the six cases to be related. It read, quote, The Portland Police Bureau has been hearing widespread questions and concerns about the death investigations of six women throughout the region, especially after widely distributed social media posts and news media articles, appeared to suggest a connection between them. These discussions have led to some anxiety and fear in our community.

Starting point is 00:14:54 And we wanna provide reassurance that the speculation is not supported by the facts available at this point. While any premature death is concerning, and we will diligently investigate deaths that happen in our jurisdiction in collaboration with the Multnomah County and Oregon State Medical Examiner's Office,

Starting point is 00:15:13 the Portland Police Bureau have no reason to believe these six cases are connected. And this is why we didn't cover the case at the time, because this came out, you know, we felt, oh, maybe they know some of the causes of deaths and they're not releasing it So, you know, obviously they don't think that these are very suspicious nor connected So there must not really be something here. Yeah, I remember it was kind of it was kind of split there were people who really truly believed that there was a serial killer operating in Portland and then there were other people who believed that Yeah, these cases were just not connected

Starting point is 00:15:46 and they were just kind of one-off situations. However, unbeknownst to us until recently, just two days after they made this statement, the Clackamas County Sheriff arrested Jesse Lee Calhoun, whom they believed to be involved in at least four of the six deaths. On July 17th, 2023, the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office issued a statement that read, Investigators and prosecutors from multiple law enforcement agencies have been working collaboratively on numerous death investigations in Northwest Oregon

Starting point is 00:16:48 and they have determined that there are links between four cases, Kristen Smith, Charity Perry, Bridget Webster, and Ashley Rayal. No charges have been filed against anyone in connection with any of these four death investigations. Investigators have interviewed multiple people in connection with these cases, and have identified at least one person of interest that is linked to all four of the descendants. Based on the available information to investigators, there is not believed to be any active danger to the community at this time. No additional information, including the nature of the information that links these four cases together,

Starting point is 00:17:28 is being released at this time, as these are ongoing death investigations. The cause and manner of death in each case remains undetermined by the Oregon State Medical Examiner. And just as a recap, that means that Joanna speaks death, the woman who was found bloodioned in an abandoned Washington barn, and the Native American or Alaska native Jane Doe were not believed to

Starting point is 00:17:51 be connected to Jesse Calhoun. Which is interesting to me, especially because Joanna's death was the one that stood out to them as a clear homicide, and she's not believed to be connected to Jesse, but the fact that so quickly they found that all four of the other victims were connected to this man is wild. Yeah, and right after they made the statement that he was not, or that they were not connected.

Starting point is 00:18:14 But let's talk about this guy. So Jesse Lee Calhoun was born in March of 1985 just outside of Portland, Oregon. He grew up alongside a brother and sister and was very close with both of his siblings and his parents. He eventually worked for his dad's business and reportedly idolized his father.

Starting point is 00:18:34 Though he seemed to have a stable, conventional upbringing, Jesse began committing crimes as a teenager. His first serious charge came in 2003 when at just 18 years old, he was convicted of third degree assault. Two years later his living girlfriend and mother of his young child petitioned for a protective order against him, claiming that in the two years that they resided together, he had been physically violent with her, pushing her through doorways and grabbing her so hard that he left bruises.

Starting point is 00:19:04 She also noted that he had a violent temper and that he would hard that he left bruises. She also noted that he had a violent temper and that he would frequently punch holes in the door. Jesse quickly violated the restraining order and was arrested for doing so, and in addition to his assault and domestic violence charges, he was arrested for harassment, drug possession, burglary, and even kidnapping. In 2019, while being arrested on a burglary charge, he assaulted an officer.

Starting point is 00:19:30 A police canine came to the officer's rescue and Jesse became embroiled in a serious physical altercation with the dog. Like, this guy is insane. And while both Jesse and the dog were injured in this tussle, they both survived. For these offenses, Jesse was sentenced to four years and two months in prison, set for release in June of 2022. But in 2020, Summertime in Oregon brought a devastating rash of wildfires that ravaged the state.

Starting point is 00:20:00 Beginning in July of 2020, the fires raged until mid-November, killing 11 people and burning over a million acres of land. And we were living in Oregon when this all happened. We actually posted about it on our Going West Instagram because the fires were so awful. Like the air outside of our house was black and you could not go outside safely for days. It was so nasty. Yeah, I had a Jeep Wrangler and I forgot to put the top on my car. And there was like an inch layer of ash. And I remember like somebody walking their dog down the street with a gas mask on. I remember that too.

Starting point is 00:20:36 It was really disturbing and it was happening all around the state and it was very much a state of emergency. Yeah, so acting in of sheer desperation to put these awful fires out that were, you know, affecting people all across the state of Oregon, Oregon Governor Kate Brown sourced firefighters from within prisons to be placed on the front lines in an attempt to contain some of the blaze. And among them was Jesse Lee Calhoun, who gladly accepted the role in exchange for

Starting point is 00:21:06 a commuted sentence. So basically, if you volunteered to fight these fires, you could get your sentence reduced. Which is a risk in itself, because you could die on the front lines, you know, but it does seem like a pretty good deal if you have a lengthy sentence, or if you want to help or want to, you know, have the chance to get out early. Yeah, and you know, the devastating thing here is that the governor basically determined that Jesse and his fellow firefighting inmates, quote, did not present unacceptable safety

Starting point is 00:21:36 risks to the community. So they didn't believe that he would be capable of doing anything when he got out, so Jesse was released in July of 2021, about a year and a half before the deaths of the women that we've discussed in this episode. Governor Brown authorized the release of about 40 other prisoners, stating quote, clemency is an opportunity I think to save lives and eventually save the world. And we all have to engage with every fiber of our being in this work. And remember, Jesse was going to be released by the next year anyway in June of 2022, so

Starting point is 00:22:14 he was spared about a year in prison due to him being on the fire squad, but it does seem that within that year, connections were made that could have spared at least one life had he gotten out in 2022 and he was supposed to. But also, the whole nature of this story could have been different because of the delay. So who knows, you know, like the butterfly effect. And these are just the women that he is suspected of murdering. Yeah. So there could definitely be others. But after his release, Yeah, so there could definitely be others. But after his release, he met and began dating 43-year-old Krista Siner.

Starting point is 00:22:49 Now they met via Facebook Messenger, and the timing was Kiz met for Krista, who was kind of at a low point, and she was struggling with homelessness and living in hotels. So on their first encounter, they met up at a convenience store, they hit it off, and according to Krista,

Starting point is 00:23:05 they had been inseparable ever since. Krista described Jesse as a family guy, charming, impersonable, and said that he was great with her kids. She recalled, quote, he's really close with his family and he'd do anything for them. He loves my kids, my kids love him. In March of 2022, after dating just a few months, the pair moved into an apartment that Krista secured for them. And though Krista recalls him being a loving and respectful partner,

Starting point is 00:23:36 their relationship was not without its complications as she caught him cheating on her multiple times. She first caught wind of his indiscretions when 22-year-old Ashley Raelle, one of the victims of this story, reached out to Chris on Facebook to alert her of an ongoing affair that she was having with Jesse.

Starting point is 00:23:59 Now, according to Ashley Raelle, the two met on Tinder and said they started sleeping together in December of 2021. Remember that is about six months before he was supposed to be released from prison. But about six months after he actually was. So she reached out in 2022 to tell Krista after finding out that Jesse was in a relationship. Jesse initially denied their relationship, saying that he had not been using Tinder and he had known Ashley for years. But, Krista eventually warmed down

Starting point is 00:24:33 and he admitted that he had been unfaithful to her, vowing to do better moving forward. But according to Krista, the two continued to meet for affairs, and Jesse was carrying on multiple sexual relationships with other women as well. But aside from the fact that Jesse was sleeping with someone else, Krista was alarmed at Jesse's relationship with Ashley saying, quote, I have a daughter her age.

Starting point is 00:24:57 Jesse, who is now 38 years old, had even recorded some of his sexual encounters with 22-year-old Ashley on his phone. But Krista decided to stay with him, writing his affair with Ashley off as a fantasy of being with a younger woman. Later, Ashley reached out to Krista and said that she was seeking treatment for drug use and was no longer being intimate with Jesse. And then, after a short while later, she disappeared. Suspicious of other affairs, Krista checked Jesse's phone when he was asleep and saw a 10-minute video of another woman posing naked with Jesse in his car. And like his relationship with Ashley,

Starting point is 00:25:40 Jesse originally denied having been with this woman. In an interview later, Christa admitted that Jesse had sexual preferences that made her uncomfortable but were not sure what they are and she claimed that she believed him to be a sex addict. But she quickly added that he didn't ever hurt her or force her to do anything that she didn't want to do. Though he continued to have sexual relationships with other women, Jesse couldn't handle when Christus so much has spoke to another man, which obviously shows his very possessive

Starting point is 00:26:13 nature. In May of 2022, Craig Wangrood, who was Christus' former partner and the father of her children, filed a stalking order against Jesse after claiming that Jesse pursued him obsessively for simply co-parenting his and Krista's children. So creepy. Yeah. So within the complaint are multiple threatening text messages that Jesse sent to Craig, including quote, I know everything about you dude, everywhere you go, what you do, stop fucking

Starting point is 00:26:43 with Krista dude, I'm going to tell you this only once." And another, he said, quote, you're a fucking idiot that can't get over Krista and ruining her life and I'm here to say that that won't be happening much longer. Put that on God. A third message, read, quote, you are a cocky ignorant son of a bitch that will always get yours when the time is right. Ashley Rayal herself also filed a complaint against Jesse, alleging an incident of domestic violence perpetrated against her. In addition to his violent outbursts and sexual tris, Jesse was a fentanyl dealer and kept his stash of drugs in their house, though Krista maintains that neither of them used it.

Starting point is 00:27:25 Krista described him as paranoid, always suspicious of law enforcement following and watching him. He also frequently carried guns and knives on his person. Well, on Tuesday, June 6, 2023, two days after the Portland Police Bureau announced that they did not believe that the deaths of the six women were related, Krista and Jesse departed their home to run a few errands. Krista explained that the two were driving Jesse's car, picking up a pegboard to organize his tools inside their storage unit. And while on their way, they stopped at a gas station to put gas in the car. Jesse then noticed that they needed air in their tires and stopped at another nearby gas station to do so.

Starting point is 00:28:12 While they were stopped at the air pump, Christopher calls police descending upon them suddenly. A car sped up behind them in the parking lot of the gas station, rear-ending them, and the last thing that Christopher remembers Jesse telling her was, I told you so. Police cars swarmed around them, guns drawn, and demanded that Jesse put his hands up and surrender to them. Krista recalled that Jesse antagonized them until they shot him with a rubber bullet, which actually bounced off of him and hit her. After Krista sprung from the car

Starting point is 00:28:48 and was ushered to police custody for her own safety, Jesse took off on foot, diving into the nearby Willamette River across the street from where they were stopped. He tried to swim away, but a few officers pursued him and were able to detain him. They put Krista in handcuffs as they questioned her, but released her when they realized that

Starting point is 00:29:09 she had no idea why they were being apprehended. After Jesse was carted away, Krista and Jesse's apartment was raided, and Krista was forced to stay in a hotel for the next three days as police scoured the residents for evidence. Police moved meticulously through the home, cutting and removing patches from the carpet, as well as taking floor mats, shoes, pieces of their couch, sex toys, bedding, and any electronics the couple had, which included ring cameras, computers, and multiple phones. They also admitted Krista's car into evidence, cutting out chunks of her seat for further examination, and they recovered 30 fentanyl pills. The first time the couple talked on the phone since Jesse's arrest,

Starting point is 00:29:56 he reportedly said to Krista through tears, baby, they got me. However, Jesse swore to her that he had nothing to do with the murders and that he was going to fight the allegations against him. Okay, then why the fuck did you run off and literally swim away? Yeah, this motherfucker thinks he's Michael Phelps. After his arrest and the subsequent discovery of his infidelities, Chris took root suspicious of his involvement with these four missing women. And through her research, she discovered that he had connections to at least two of the

Starting point is 00:30:32 four women. She knew about Ashley's death already, and in fact, she had been the one to tell Jesse about it, claiming that he was saddened and shocked by it. Krista had heard about it on the news and even cried about it, but never entertained the idea that her boyfriend may have been involved. So she revisited the video

Starting point is 00:30:52 that she found of the naked woman in Jessie's car, and in it, the young woman was holding a needle, but claimed that she had, quote, stopped shooting up. As Krista looked closer, she realized that she recognized the girl as another one of the four possible victims attributed to her boyfriend. It was Bridget Webster. Krista said sadly, quote, my heart sank when I saw Bridget.

Starting point is 00:31:18 Her sleuthing efforts also uncovered a Facebook conversation between Jesse and a male friend shortly before Bridget disappeared, that claimed that she would exchange dates or sex for blues, which is often used as the street name for fentanyl or oxycodone. Krista remarked, quote, I'm still in shock over this. It's just surreal. It's very strange. I can't wrap my mind around any of it.

Starting point is 00:31:44 Neither can his family or friends." When asked if she believed if he was involved in the deaths of the four women, Christa says that she hopes not, but that she's just not sure. She believes that it's possible that one or more of the girls simply overdosed in Jesse's presence, and that he panicked and attempted to hide the body. She revealed that one of his charges was abuse of a corpse, charges which were brought against him on behalf of both Ashley and Bridget. Krista remembers that Jesse had once phoned her in a panic asking for Narcan, explaining that it was for a male friend who had overdosed.

Starting point is 00:32:22 Another time he mistakenly pocket dialed her and she claimed that she could hear him talking sweetly to his companion, saying that he brought them something to eat in an attempt to make them feel better. When Krista asked him about it later, he again said that he was just simply taking care of a male friend who had overdosed. She now believes that both of those interactions were with the victims. But what are the odds that an accidental overdose happened in Jesse's presence four separate times in the span of less than three months? When asked if she would stay with Jesse, Krista said flatly quote, if he's not guilty. On Monday, July 17th, 2023, the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office announced

Starting point is 00:33:06 that they officially believed that there was a link between the four after all. They declined to elaborate on their findings, which will probably become public information only when the case goes to trial. The clemency that Jesse was granted in 2021 for the firefighting has now officially been revoked. Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt wrote in a statement quote Since his release from custody pursuant to this commutation Mr. Calhoun has been involved in criminal activity

Starting point is 00:33:35 currently under investigation by Oregon law enforcement. It is our position that his release does not serve the interest of the state of Oregon. Former governor Kate Brown who granted his commutation, announced quote, I am absolutely horrified for the victims, their families, and all those who have experienced these losses. So investigators have kept their findings close to the vest. In fact, Jesse was technically arrested on charges of parole violation. Police sought to detain him to keep him from fleeing or offending again while they build their case against him.

Starting point is 00:34:12 They have not announced a cause of death for any of the four women connected to Jesse Lee Calhoun, nor have they announced why they feel that Joanna speaks and the unidentified native woman are not connected to him, but it may just be because they haven't been able to find a concrete connection. Kristen's mom, Melissa Smith, said, quote, I'm just really hoping that this is it. I don't know. I guess I'm still kind of in shock by it all, but I'm just hoping that we get him. She added, quote, everyone keeps asking, is there a serial killer? Is there a serial killer? We know what you guys know. We're in this fight together. We're not giving

Starting point is 00:34:50 up and we all want justice for our young women, our family members, our sisters, our daughters. Bridget's grandfather agreed saying quote, everyone's kind of taken a deep breath now and realizes that hopefully it's all over. It doesn't change what happened, but at least maybe it won't happen to anyone else. So for now, Jesse awaits trial at the Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario, Oregon. The most recent update that has been shared with the media is that he was assigned a public

Starting point is 00:35:24 defender on September 16th of last year, so 2023. If you have any information about the deaths of Kristen Smith, Charity Perry, Bridget Webster, Joanna Speaks, Ashley Real, or the unidentified Native woman, please contact Crime Stoppers of Oregon at CrimeTipsatportlandOregon.gov. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode and on Tuesday We'll have an all-new case for you guys to dive into so yeah I know we all have a lot of questions But this case has been on our minds for about a year and it's just crazy because after the police had made that announcement that

Starting point is 00:36:14 They didn't think that the cases were connected or that there was foul play We kind of just read that and we're like, okay We'll see if we hear anything else and then we didn't until a few months ago. Then it was like, boom, Jesse Lee Calhoun is arrested. Yeah. So we found out a little bit late, but still almost a year after the fact, there's still not a ton of information, but we wanted to at least cover it because these women's stories deserve to be told. And we know a lot of you guys are probably, you know, wondering about this news as well.

Starting point is 00:36:44 But we'll see whenever the trial happens. We'll definitely keep you guys updated. Yes, and please make sure that you share this episode because you never know. Someone might have more information on Jesse Calhoun. So yeah, please share and go check out the photos that are on our socials. Again, we're on Instagram at Going West Podcast. We're on Twitter at Going West Pod, and we have a Facebook. Yes, and just a reminder, if you are all caught up on Going West, and now you suddenly need more Heath and Daphne in your life, we have over 100 full-length ad-free episodes that we have not covered on Going West over on our Patreon and Apple Podcast subscription. So head on over to Apple Podcast.

Starting point is 00:37:25 There's a free seven day trial or you can head on over to patreon.com slash going West Podcast and subscribe. All right guys, so for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger. වවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවව� Thanks for watching!

Going West: True Crime - Jesse Lee Calhoun // 378

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