Oregon man indicted on murder charges for deaths of 3 women pleads not guilty
By Amanda Musa, CNN
(CNN) — An Oregon man charged in the deaths of three women pleaded not guilty to a six-count indictment during an arraignment hearing in Multnomah County District Court on Thursday.
Last month, an Oregon grand jury indicted Jesse Lee Calhoun, 39, on three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of abuse of a corpse in the second degree in the deaths of Charity Lynn Perry, 24, Bridget Leanne Webster, 31, and Joanna Speaks, 32, according to a news release from the district attorney.
All three women were found dead “under suspicious circumstances” on different days in April 2023, two of them in Portland and a third in neighboring Washington, according to Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt.
Authorities have not provided information on how they died, and it’s unclear how investigators linked Calhoun to the three deaths. CNN has reached out to the district attorney’s office for additional information.
“Mr. Calhoun adamantly denies the allegations against him,” Cameron Taylor, Calhoun’s attorney, told CNN in an emailed statement Thursday.
Authorities in Oregon last year said they believe the deaths of Perry and Webster were connected to the deaths of two other Oregon women, Kristin Smith and Ashley Real, CNN previously reported. Authorities are “still very much investigating” their deaths, Senior Deputy District Attorney Melissa Marrero said last month.
Calhoun appeared in Multnomah County court after being transferred from Snake River Correctional Institution in eastern Oregon, where he was in custody on unrelated charges, according to previous CNN reporting.
Calhoun’s next court appearance is scheduled for July 19.
The-CNN-Wire
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