Sheila Keen-Warren, a 61-year-old woman from Florida, was convicted for the murder of Marlene Warren. Her case became known as the infamous ‘killer clown’ cold case. Keen-Warren was accused of dressing in a clown costume and fatally shooting the wife of a man she went on to marry. She was arrested in 2017, 27 years after the horrific slaying. She originally pleaded not guilty and remained in custody. In 2023, she entered a plea deal with prosecutors. After pleading guilty to second-degree murder, she was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Keen-Warren was released on November 2, 2024. Florida law in 1990 allowed her to be released only after 7 years of time served due to good behavior.
1990 ‘Killer Clown’ Cold Case
On May 26, 1990, Marlene Warren was greeted at her front door by someone in a clown costume appearing to deliver balloons and flowers. Moments passed, and the suspect pulled out a gun and shot Marlene in the face. Afterward, they calmly walked away from the house to a nearby park, where they drove away. Authorities always suspected Sheila Keen-Warren to be the assailant.
They accused her of having an affair with Marlene’s husband, Michael Warren, but did not have sufficient evidence. In 2002, Keen-Warren married Michael in Las Vegas after he spent three years behind bars for grand theft. After their wedding, they moved to a large lakefront home in Abingdon, Virginia.
The ‘Killer Clown’ case went cold for decades before authorities reopened it in 2014. Palm Beach County received a federal grant to use new DNA technology to solve cold cases. With the newfound technology, police could link Sheila Keen-Warren to the crime scene. They found out where Keen-Warren had been for all those years and set a trap to detain her. They surveilled their home in Virginia and lay in wait until they could pull them over. Washington County Sheriff Fred Newman said Keen-Warren showed little emotion as she was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
Evidence In The Case
At the time of the murder, Keen-Warren was working for Michael Warren at his used car lot. In 1990, witnesses told investigators that the two were having an affair, but they were not able to prove it. Of course, they both denied it but ended up marrying 12 years later. A costume shop employee also identified Keen-Warren as the woman who bought a clown costume from their store just days before the murder. One of the balloons the ‘killer clown’ had was also specific to one store, Publix Supermarket. Employees of the Publix identified a woman who fared similarly to Keen-Warren, who bought the balloon just an hour before the shooting.
Final Thoughts
Sheila Keen-Warren went undetected for almost three decades before she was arrested for the murder of Marlene Warren. Despite accepting a plea deal and pleading guilty to the murder, she maintains her innocence. If the ‘killer clown’ case had gone to trial, she would have been facing life in prison. Instead, she accepted the plea deal, knowing she would be released in a couple of years. Her defense attorney, Greg Rosenfeld, expressed glee at his client’s release. Rosenfeld told AP, “We are absolutely thrilled that Ms. Keen-Warren has been released from prison and is returning to her family.”
The prosecution and Marlene Warren’s family are displeased with Keen-Warren’s release. Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg said in a statement, “Sheila Keen-Warren will always be an admitted convicted murderer and will wear that stain every day for the rest of her life.” Marlene Warren’s son, Joseph Ahrens, was a witness to his mother’s murder. He expressed to People his disappointment in the release of his mother’s murderer. He believes there is no justice and that it is not fair that Keen-Warren gets to walk free after what she did.
