Jesse Calhoun pleads not guilty to fifth murder charge in Oregon court

An accused serial killer in Oregon was arraigned on Wednesday for the murder of a fifth woman. A lawyer for Jesse Calhoun, who was already facing charges in the deaths of four women whose bodies were discovered in 2022 and 2023, entered a not guilty plea for the second-degree murder of Ashley Real, a 22-year-old who previously alleged he had choked her. Her body was found within a 100-mile radius to Calhoun’s other alleged victims, Kristin Smith, 22; Charity Perry, 24; Bridget Webster, 31; and Joanna Speaks, 32, NBC News reported . Speaks was found in an abandoned barn in southwestern Washington, while the others were found in Oregon . Real’s body was discovered in a pond in Clackamas county in May 2023. Prosecutors told reporters at a press briefing following Wednesday’s brief arraignment hearing in Portland that they intended to try Calhoun, until recently only a person of interest in Real’s death, for all five murders in the same proceedings next year instead of conducting separate trials, the city’s ABC4 News said . Calhoun, 41, who did not speak during the arraignment, faces five counts of second-degree murder, and four counts of abuse of a corpse. NBC reported that members of Real’s family were at the hearing, and spoke to the outlet afterwards. …