Former Oregon Democratic Governor Kate Brown granted mass commutations to over 1,000 inmates during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the men to whom she granted clemency is now reportedly a person of interest in the killings of four women murdered in 2023.

The 38-year-old man, whose clemency has now been revoked, is currently in custody at Snake River Correctional Institution in Ontario on charges apparently unrelated to the murders. When officers tried to arrest the 6’4”, 266-pound man, he tried to swim away in the Willamette River. According to Willamette Week, the attorney who who most recently represented the man no longer does so.

The man was given a “conditional commutation” on March 5, 2021, then released in July 2021, roughly 11 months earlier than his projected release date. He is being linked to the deaths of Kristin Smith, Charity Perry, Bridget Webster, and Ashley Real.

The man had been convicted of multiple felonies dating back to 2004; most recently in November 2019, when he pleaded guilty to burglary, unauthorized possession of a stolen vehicle, and injuring a police officer attempting to arrest him.

But after serving with other inmates fighting wildfires, his sentence along with roughly 40 other inmates was reduced by Brown.

On June 1, 2023, The Oregonian reported that six young women’s bodies had been found since mid-February: Smith, found in Southeast Portland; Joanna Speaks, found in Ridgefield, Washington; Charity Perry, found in east Multnomah County; an unidentified woman found in Lents; Bridget Webster, found in Polk County; and Ashley Real, found in Clackamas County.

Brown stated, “I’m absolutely horrified for the victims, their families, and all those who have experienced this loss.”

Brown, who spoke at Princeton University as part of a December 2022 panel titled, “Correcting Injustice: How Clemency Serves Justice and Strengthens Communities,” reduced the sentences of 912 nonviolent inmates who were at risk of contracting COVID and granted 130 pardons.

At the event, Princeton professor and former ACLU activist Udi Ofer boasted of Brown, “She has been and continues to be a trailblazer … according to an article by The Guardian, ‘Governor Kate Brown has granted more commutations and pardons than all of Oregon’s governors combined over the last 50 years,’ which is an incredible accomplishment.”

“Our criminal justice system is flawed, inequitable, and it’s certainly outdated,” Brown declared. “For me, this is truly — using a governor’s executive power to grant clemency — is truly an act of mercy. It is an incredibly useful tool to correct injustices in my state and in this country.”

Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre expressed confidence in the Secret Service after the agency announced last week that no suspects were identified in the investigation into who brought cocaine into the White House earlier this month. 

Jean-Pierre did not seem concerned when asked about the probe coming up empty after previously saying she was confident the Secret Service would “get to the bottom of it.” 

“Look, we believe that the Secret Service did a thorough investigation. I’m certainly not going to opine on the investigation,” she said. “Of course we’re going to have confidence that they’re going to do their jobs and do everything that they can to get to the bottom of this.”

“But as you’ve just stated, we’ve been briefed on the outcome.  And in their public statement, as well as the Secret Service have said there is a … there [were] hundreds of visitors that traveled through this area where the cocaine was found across that weekend,” she continued. 

Last week, the Secret Service closed its investigation after it said that no usable fingerprints or DNA were found on the bag of cocaine. 

“The investigation will not be able to single out a person of interest from the hundreds of individuals who passed through the vestibule where the cocaine was discovered,” the agency said in a statement. 

No interviews with any of the possible culprits were conducted, according to Secret Service spokesman Anthony Gugliemi, who said reaching out to all 500 people determined to be in the area would likely be a waste of resources.

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The cocaine was reportedly found in a West Wing cubby. One former Secret Service agent said it should be easy to narrow down when the cocaine was left in that location. 

“Based on where the cocaine was found, I’m pretty confident that it was not there for a long period of time, based on the security measures, the sweeps of that area. So that gives the Secret Service some type of a time frame,” former agent Charles Marino told The Daily Wire. 

Many lawmakers were unhappy with the result of the investigation, alleging that the agency was not honest with the American people. 

“Another coverup,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) said after a briefing with the Secret Service. “You know, it’s the most secure building in the entire world. Nobody, not even the press, goes in there without them knowing.”

The discovery prompted widespread speculation that the cocaine could have belonged to Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s troubled son, who has battled drug addiction in the past and had recently been seen at the White House.