A woman in Florida dressed up as a clown and killed her current husband’s wife while she and him were allegedly having an affair and not married. She was released from prison over the weekend after entering a plea deal last year.
Officials from the Florida Department of Corrections say that 61-year-old Sheila Keen-Warren is now free after being locked up for seven years after being arrested in 2017 for a killing that happened decades ago in Palm Beach County.
Law&Crime looked at her prison records and saw that she started her 12-year sentence for killing Marlene Warren, 40, on May 16, 2023. She was released on Saturday because of time served and good behavior.
There were a lot of news stories and headlines about Keen-Warren, calling her Florida’s “killer clown.”
She was charged with first-degree murder, but the charge was dropped to second-degree murder because of problems with the DNA samples, dead witnesses, and other issues that Palm Beach prosecutors reportedly had before the trial.
Even though Keen-Warren took a plea deal, she has maintained her innocence while she has been in jail.
A lawyer for Ms. Keen-Warren told a local NBC affiliate, WTVJ, “We are absolutely thrilled that Ms. Keen-Warren has been released from prison and is returning to her family.” “We have said from the start that she did not do this crime.”
When Keen-Warren was freed, Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg had a very different opinion about her. He told WTVJ, “Sheila Keen-Warren will always be an admitted convicted murderer and will wear that stain for every day for the rest of her life.”
Keen-Warren was accused of bringing balloons and flowers to Marlene Warren’s house on May 26, 1990, while dressed as a clown and with clown makeup on.
This was before her plea deal. Keen-Warren went to Marlene Warren’s front door and rang the bell. When she answered, she gave her gifts, and that is when she shot her in the face.
What WTVJ says is that Marlene Warren told the clown killer, “How nice,” before she was blasted.
A relationship between Keen-Warren and Michael Warren, Marlene Warren’s husband at the time, was said to have brought him close to Marlene Warren. Family and friends told the local media that Marlene Warren knew about it.
Reports say that this alleged affair turned into a marriage after Marlene Warren died.
Police say that one of the most important pieces of evidence against Keen-Warren was an alleged getaway car that she left behind after being seen in it earlier at a Publix grocery store.
It is said that orange hair fibers and DNA samples were found inside the car. However, it turned out that the genes were both male and female.
Two witnesses, including Marlene Warren’s son, who was home at the time of the shooting, told police they did not think the car belonged to the person who shot her and then drove off quickly. This was another big problem with the car.
Meanwhile, someone who worked at the restaurant owned by Marlene and Michael Warren told police that Keen-Warren, who was a waitress there, had dressed up as a clown for Halloween one year and given police a picture of her.
On Monday, attempts were made to get in touch with Keen-Warren’s lawyer for comment but failed.
