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A woman pleads guilty to being the "killer clown" and fatally shooting another woman in Florida in 1990

2023-04-26T03:12:41.521Z


Sheila Keen-Warren admitted Tuesday that she dressed up as a clown and killed Marlene Warren on May 26 more than 30 years ago, in Wellington, Palm Beach. A grand jury ruled in August 2016 in favor of bringing criminal charges against him.


By Terry Spencer -

Associated Press

A clown came to Marlene Warren's doorstep one May morning in 1990, gave her flowers and balloons, then shot her to death in front of her son.

On Tuesday, Sheila Keen-Waren, 59, pleaded guilty to being the murderer, ending a case that is even bizarre by Florida standards.

Keen-Warren, who later married the victim's husband, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder

, in a deal that will likely see her released in no more than two years.

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A longtime suspect in the crime, Keen-Warren has been in prison awaiting trial for first-degree murder since 2017, when Palm Beach County investigators said advances in DNA techniques proved that a hair found in the car in which the clown fled belonged to him.

Keen-Warren had insisted, however, that she was not the culprit.

Sheila Keen-Warren, the woman accused of dressing up as a clown and shooting another woman to death in 1990 at the door of the second home in Florida.

Dave Aronberg, Palm Beach County's attorney, said in a statement that the settlement "signifies a measure of justice" for Marlene Warren and her son.

There was no notice for Tuesday's hearing, which would have drawn countless reporters and onlookers.

Instead, the case was dealt with quietly during a lunch break by Circuit Judge Scott Suskauer, who was presiding over another case.

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“Sheila Keen-Warren has finally been forced to admit that she was the one who dressed as a clown and took the life of an innocent victim.

She's going to be a convicted murderer for the rest of her days

," Aronberg said.

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Greg Rosenfeld, Keen-Warren's attorney, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that "this is an incredible victory for Ms. Keen-Warren," who still insists she is not the killer.

The woman has said that she did not commit the crime.

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The deal includes a 12-year sentence, but Keen-Warren has been in prison for six years awaiting trial.

In addition, Florida law in 1990 allowed prison time for good behavior to be significantly reduced, so Rosenfeld expects Keen-Warren to be released next year.

Judge Scott Suskauer, in an October 2022 photo.AP

Her trial was scheduled to begin next month, and if convicted, she would have received a life sentence.

If that had been the case, she would have received

parole

after 25 years.

Prosecutors originally sought the death penalty but later decided to withdraw it.

"The state of Florida originally wanted to execute her, but now she's going home in 10 months

," Rosenfeld said.

"Although it was difficult to agree to plead guilty to a murder she did not commit, there was no point in not doing it when she was guaranteed that she would go home to her family."

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Aronberg's office disputed Rosenfeld's assertion and said Keen-Warren will be in prison for at least two years.

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Joseph Ahrens, the son of Marlene Warren, followed the proceedings via the internet.

He was only 21 years old when he saw his mother being murdered.

She is now in her 50's and her only message from her to the court and Keen-Warren was God be with her.

The trial was delayed numerous times by the COVID-19 pandemic and fights over evidence in the case.

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At the time of the murder, Keen-Warren was an employee at a used car lot owned by Michael, Marlene Warren's husband.

Since 2002, Keen-Warren has been his wife.

They both moved to Abington, Virginia, where they ran a restaurant right on the Tennessee border.

Witnesses told investigators that in 1990 Sheila Keen (her name at the time) and Michael Warren had an extramarital affair, though both denied it.

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For years, investigators said,

workers at the costume shop identified Sheila Warren as the person who had purchased the clown costume

days before the murder.

And one of the balloons—a silver one that read "You're the Best"—was sold at only one store, a Publix supermarket near her home.

Employees told detectives that a woman who looked like Keen-Warren had bought the balloons an hour before the crime.

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The alleged car in which the person who committed the murder fled was found abandoned with orange fibers, similar to hair, inside.

The white Chrysler convertible had been reported stolen from Michael Warren's lot a month before the murder.

Keen-Warren and her then-husband were looking for repossessed cars for Michael Warren.

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Relatives told The Palm Beach Post in 2000 that

Marlene Warren, who was 40 when she died, suspected her husband was having an extramarital affair

and wanted to leave him.

But the car lot and other property was in her name and she was afraid of what would happen to her if she left him.

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She allegedly told her mother,

"If anything happens to me, Mike did it

. "

The man has never been charged and has denied involvement in the murder.

Rosenfeld said the case brought by the state was falling apart.

One of the DNA samples somehow showed genes from both a man and a woman, and another may have come from one in 20 women, including Marlene Warren, he said.

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Even if that hair actually came from Keen-Warren, it could have fallen there before the car was reported stolen.

He said

Ahrens and another witness also told detectives that the car officers found was not the killer's car

, even though investigators insisted it was.

In his statement, Aronberg conceded that there were holes in the case, saying they were caused by the three decades it took to bring it to trial, including the deaths of three key witnesses.

Michael Warren was convicted of grand theft in 1994, blackmail and tampering with car mileage counters.

He served nearly four years in prison, a sentence that his then-his lawyer considered disproportionate and due to suspicions that he was involved in the death of his wife.

Michael Warren did not return calls Tuesday seeking comment.

Source: telemundo

All news articles on 2023-04-26

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