Jesse Calhoun, the man authorities say is linked to the deaths of six women, appeared in a Multnomah County courtroom Monday for a brief hearing for the first time since prosecutors publicly accused him of killing a woman whose body has not been found.
An indictment filed Monday in Multnomah County Circuit Court alleges Calhoun killed Elizabeth Gibson, 32. He is charged with first-degree manslaughter in Gibson’s death.
Calhoun, 41, wore jail-issued blue scrubs with a pink T-shirt, sat with his hands on his lap and stared down for most of the hearing. One of his lawyers, Cameron Taylor, entered a plea of not guilty on Calhoun’s behalf.
Calhoun faces allegations of second-degree murder in the deaths of five other women: Ashley Real, 22; Charity Lynn Perry, 24; Bridget Webster, 31; JoAnna Speaks, 32; and Kristin Smith, 22. Calhoun had long been linked to Real’s killing, but he was not charged with her death until earlier this year.
Relatives of some of the women filled two rows of the courtroom and after the hearing offered support for Gibson’s relatives who did not attend.
Ariel Hamby, Speaks’ stepsister, said the families have come to count on one another.
“We are each others’ support system,” she said. “Very rarely on something like this do you have someone else who 100% understands your emotions and what you are going through and how it affects your daily life.“
Officials said they believe Gibson was killed Nov. 18, 2022. Her friend, Stephenie Turner, reported her missing in March 2023. Multnomah County prosecutors have so far declined to describe the circumstances of her disappearance or how they tied Calhoun to the case.
Gibson was a familiar face among unhoused people in outer Southeast Portland. She often stayed on friends’ couches or on the street, Turner said.
Stacey Badeaux said he met Gibson, who went by Libby, about five years ago. He said he saw her on the day authorities suspect she was killed. Badeaux and Turner testified before the grand jury last week; both are listed as grand jury witnesses on the latest indictment.
In an interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive on Monday, Badeaux shed some light on Gibson’s last day. He met up with her in a car along Southeast Foster Road, he said. A man he did not know was at the wheel. He said Gibson seemed comfortable with the man, who said little.
Though Badeaux knew Calhoun by name, he said, “I couldn’t tell you if that was him in the car with us.”
Badeaux said Gibson asked him to help her inject methamphetamine. “I had her out doing jumping jacks to get the blood flowing and she got back in the car and I couldn’t find (a vein), so I just told her I couldn’t do it,” he said. “That was the last time I seen her.”
He recorded a video of Gibson doing the jumping jacks, which he posted to TikTok that day. Gibson wore a pink hoodie with the image of a rose on the front. Her hair was pulled back into braids. She smiled as she walked back to the car.
Several weeks later, someone left a comment on Badeaux’s video: “Hey we are looking for libby.”
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