Suspected serial killer Jesse Lee Calhoun appeared emotionless as he came face to face in court this week with the victim's families.
Calhoun, 39, faces three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of second-degree abuse of a corpse in the brutal slaying ofCharity Lynn Perry 24, Bridget Leanne Webster, 31, and Joanna Speaks, 32.
His lawyer Cameron Taylor pleaded not guilty on his client's behalf during Thursday's arraignment held in Multnomah County District Court.
Calhoun has also been named a person of interest in the death of Kristin Smith, 22, and Ashley Rea, 22. Their deaths remain under investigation.
Kristin's mother, Melissa Smith said it was 'gut wrenching' seeing Calhoun in the courtroom. 'It's hard to look him in the face, and there's a lot I would like to say,' she said.KOIN News reported. 'We already feel broken. We already feel empty.'
Many of the other victims families were unable to face the suspected murderer.
Suspected serial killer Jesse Lee Calhoun appeared emotionless as he came face to face in court on Thursday with some of the victims' families
Though Calhoun wasn't charged yet in her daughter's murder, Smith said 'we are all in a different position here, but all connected with Jesse Calhoun.'
'I’m already broken. I’m already falling, but I have to keep going. I have to keep fighting,' she said.
The grieving mother wearing a black t-shirt with the pink letters and the words: 'Justice for Kristin Smith' toldNews Nation's Ashleigh Banfieldduring last night's show,how important it was for herto be in the courtroom not only for her own daughter, but for the other families
'It is very important for me that my daughter is not forgotten and for the truth to come out and be told.'
She told Banfield that during the hearing she kept her eyes locked on Calhoun.
'I wanted to see him,' Smith said. ' All I have ever seen was a photo. I never heard of him. I don't know who he is.'
Melissa Smith is the mother of Kristin Smith, 22, who was reported missing December 2022. Her body was found in a wooded area in Portland, Oregon months later
Bridget Webster, 31 (left), was found on April 30, 2023, and Ashley Real, 22 (right), on May 7, 2023
Kristin Smith, 22 (left), was the first victim: she was discovered on February 19 last year. On April 24, 2023, the second, Charity Perry, 24 (right), was found dead
Joann Speaks, 32, was a mother from Oregon, whose remains were discovered outside a barn in a remote area of Washington State
As she waits to hear about updates in her daughter's murder, she expressed that the other three other families can now get some form of closure and being the grieving process.
'I'm there for them through all of it, and they're there for me… as we keep fighting to get the truth and the answers we deserve.'
Smith also said that she believed that he looked over at Krista Sinor, the woman he had been in a relationship, as they were seated in the courtroom.
'He did look over. I think he was looking at Krista. I think he knew she was there,' Smith said.
Sinor met the murder suspect through Facebookand they dated until he was arrested on parole violations before the accusations surfaced.
Smith added: 'It is difficult for all of us. We are all victims.'
Kristin Smith, 22; Charity Perry, 24; Bridget Webster, 31; and Ashley Real, 22, were found dead over three months in wooded areas, under a bridge and in a culvert.
Calhoun's first alleged victim was Perry who was killed on March 8, 2023. Ten days later was his next alleged victim Joanna Speaks on March 18, 2023, and Bridget Webster on April 26.
Earlier this month, a newly released indictment offered the first clear timeline regarding the women whose disappearances rattled the Portland area last year.
The two-page document reveals little details but shows that authorities called in 16 witnesses for closed-door grand jury proceedings earlier this month.
The indictment accuses Calhoun of killing Perry on March 8, 2023, her body was found seven weeks later on April 24 near Ainsworth State Park.
Ten days after that, he is accused of murdering Speaks, with her body being found three weeks later in an abandoned property in Ridgefield.
It was later determined that Speaks had been killed in Portland and her body then moved, autopsy details show she was killed by blunt force trauma to the head.
Her death is the only one in the three in which the manner of death has been revealed.
The indictment claims Calhoun killed Webster on April 26, her body was then found four days later in Polk County.
Perry's mother Diana Allen says her daughter was known to frequent an open-air drug market in downtown Portland where deputies say she was last seen.
Allen only recently learned that her daughter had overdosed in the area on March 6 and was taken to hospital.
The timing of her reported death just two days later is painful for Allen, who told NBC24: 'That right there is the hardest thing to process.'
Now knowing the date of her death, Allen told the outlet she would be adding it to her daughter's headstone.
The family of Speaks had previously said that they believe she had died trying to defend herself.
Her sister Robyn Speaks previously told KOIN: 'She was fearless. I guarantee she fought back.'
Speaks had a seven-year-old daughter and two teenage sons according to her sister.
Calhoun has also identified as a person of interest in the deaths of 22-year-old Kristin Smith and 22-year-old Ashley Real.
Calhoun has a lengthy criminal record, with felony convictions dating back almost 20 years.
He was reportedly a talented artist, who told booking officials he earned his living painting designs on vehicles.
His first felony conviction was in 2004. He was arrested again in 2018, with meth, several guns, and more than 500 rounds of ammunition.
The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office called him a 'prolific thief and career criminal.' In 2019 he was given four sentences, set to run concurrently.
Calhoun was one of 41 inmates whose sentence was lowered by one year in 2021 by then-Governor Kate Brown after they helped battle devastating wildfires in Oregon.
Calhoun was released from the Columbia River Correctional Institution on July 22, 2021, almost one year before his projected release date.
He had been serving a 50-month sentence for assaulting a police officer, trying to strangle a police dog, burglary and felony unauthorized use of a vehicle.
The 6ft, 4in suspect, who has a history of resisting arrest, jumped into the Willamette River in Milwaukie and tried to escape when found on July 6.
The DA's office said that no date had yet been set for his first court appearance on the new indictment, and he remains in Snake River Correctional Institution.
