Person of interest in Portland serial killer case fought his way through ‘10 officers’ before arrest, witness says
‘I don’t know how he made it through the 10 officers but he made it through and across traffic and down to the river and hopped in’
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
The person of interest in the Portland serial killer case fought his way through “10 officers” before his arrest, a witness has said.
A man who saw Jesse Calhoun being arrested told KGW that “There’s craziness in the world. You hope it doesn’t happen too often. It was pretty nuts to see it happen in my backyard”.
Calhoun was arrested on 6 June as he and his girlfriend were at a gas station in Milwaukie, Oregon. The arrest didn’t occur without incident.
“I don’t know how he made it through the 10 officers but he made it through and across traffic and down to the river and hopped in,” the witness told KGW.
“I was like, ‘I wonder what this guy did,’” the witness added. “It seems whatever he did was really important — or required that much law enforcement, I should say.
“I don’t want to see him come out from bars ever again.”
Former Oregon Governor Kate Brown commuted Calhoun’s sentence for several burglaries on 23 June 2021, about a year before he was set to be released, with a key factor being his work fighting wildfires and the spread of Covid-19 in prisons.
“No charges have been filed against anyone in connection with any of these four death investigations,” the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office and law enforcement agencies said in a Monday press release. “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 decedents.”
A woman who says that Calhoun lived with her and her children for a year and a half has shared allegations that there may have been connections between the 38-year-old and some of the victims.
In a video interview shared on YouTube, Krista Senor said Calhoun was linked to at least two of the four women found dead and that he had sex and sold fentanyl to other women during their relationship, according to Oregon Live.
“I’m still in shock over this. It’s just surreal,” Ms Sinor, 43 told The Oregonian on Wednesday. “It’s very strange. I can’t wrap my mind around any of it. Neither can his family or friends.”
Police spent three days searching her apartment in Milwaukie, Oregon after they arrested Calhoun on 6 June.
Ms Sinor said Calhoun was connected to two of the victims, Ashley Real, 22, from Portland, and Bridget Leann Ramsey Webster, 31, from Milwaukie.
The other two victims are Charity Perry and Kristin Smith – police said on Monday 17 July that their deaths are connected and that a person of interest – Calhoun – had been identified.
The four women were all found dead across the region since the middle of February.
Ms Sinor said in the YouTube interview that Calhoun and Ms Real had been seeing each other on and off for about a year and that he would provide Ms Webster with drugs in exchange for sex, but Ms Sinor added that she didn’t know how Calhoun was linked to Ms Perry or Ms Smith.
When Ms Sinor was asked if Calhoun is a serial killer, Ms Sinor said “My first thought is that maybe a fentanyl overdose and he freaked out”.
“He’s a family guy. He seems like a family guy. He’s really close with his family and he would do anything for them and stuff but like my kids ... he loves my kids and my kids love him,” she added in the YouTube interview, according to KGW.