Floridas convicted killer clown released from prison for the murder of her husbands then-wife
A Florida woman who was dubbed the killer clown after murdering the wife of a man she later married has been released from prison.
A Florida woman who was dubbed the killer clown after murdering the wife of a man she later married has been released from prison.
Sheila Keen-Warren, 61, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last April after she admitted to dressing like a clown - even clutching two balloons and flowers in hand - and shooting a woman in the face on the doorstep of her home in 1990.
She was officially released from prison on Saturday for the murder of 40-year-old Marlene Warren - just 18 months after her guilty plea, which came shortly before her trial would have started.
Sheila Keen-Warren will always be an admitted convicted murderer and will wear that strain for every day for the rest of her life, Dave Aronberg, the Palm Beach County State Attorney, said in a statement on Saturday.
She has maintained her innocence even after her plea and was originally sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Sheila Keen-Warren, 61, who is dubbed as Floridas killer clown, was released from prison after murdering the wife of a man she later married in 1990
Marlene Warren, 40, (pictured) was shot in the face after answering the door to her Palm Beach home to a person dressed up as a clown and holding balloons and flowers
Keen-Warren (pictured) pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in April of last year but was released just 18 months after her plea
While current Florida law requires people to serve at least 85 percent of their sentence before gain time can build up, Keen-Warren is exempt because of the sentencing laws in 1990 when the crime was committed.
She spent her days behind bars for seven years since her arrest in 2017, but the states law in 1990 allowed significant credit for good behavior and expected her to be released in about two years.
After spending roughly 17 months in a facility near Tallahassee, the infamous Palm Beach County killer is now a free woman, ending a case that has been strange even by Florida standards.
Joseph Ahrens, Marlenes son, was eating breakfast at their Wellington family home with friends in May of 1990 when a person dressed as a clown rang the doorbell.
His mother was handed balloons upon opening the door, to which she responded how nice before she was ultimately shot in the face.
Marlene was handed balloons and flowers upon opening the door, and responded with how nice before she was shot and died in the hospital two days later
One of the balloons she was holding - a silver one that read Youre the Greatest - was sold at a Publix supermarket near Keen-Warrens home
In May of 1990, a person wearing a clown costume (pictured) as well as clown makeup gunned down Marlene at her front door
Keen-Warren then calmly walked back to the white Chrysler LeBaron she arrived in, and drove away from the scene.
Michael Warren, the victims husband, was not home at the time of the shooting.
Marlene died at the hospital two days after she was gunned down at her front door.
Keen-Warren was long suspected to have been the one to execute the slaying, but it wasnt until 27 years later when improved DNA testing tied her to evidence found in the getaway car led to her arrest.
Orange, hair-like fibers were found inside the convertible that was reported stolen from Michaels car lot a month before the shooting.
DNA extracted from a fiber was confirmed to have linked her back to the murder, but Greg Rosenfeld, Keen-Warrens attorney, has called the evidence weak.
Keen-Warren was long suspected of being the culprit to the crime, but it wasnt until a fiber found in the getaway car linked her to the slaying and led to her arrest in 2017
Marlenes husband, Michael Warren, was not home at the time of the murder and has always insisted that Keen-Warren was innocent
Keen-Warren worked under Michael (both pictured) at his used car lot where she first met him and at the time of the killing
At the time of the killing, Keen-Warren was working under Michael at his used car lot where she first met him, repossessing cars for him alongside her then-husband.
Witnesses told investigators that the two were having an affair, although they both denied those allegations, despite tying the knot 12 years later.
The pair married in 2002 and moved to Abington, Virginia, where they ran a restaurant just across the Tennessee border.
Over the years, employees at a costume shop identified Keen-Warren as being the woman who had bought a clown suit just a few days before Marlene was gunned down.
One of the balloons she was holding - a silver one that read Youre the Greatest - was sold at a Publix supermarket near Keen-Warrens home and was the only store in the area to have sold that exact balloon.
Employees of that Publix told detectives a woman who looked like Keen-Warren bought the balloons an hour before the shooting.
In 2000, Marlenes relatives said that she suspected Michael of having an affair but had fears of leaving him due to the unknown of what he may do to her and her name being under multiple properties they both owned
Michael Warren was convicted in 1994 of grand theft, racketeering and odometer tampering and spent four years behind bars
Witnesses originally told investigators that Michael and Keen-Warren were having an affair, but they denied those allegations despite getting married 12 years later
Relatives of the victim told The Palm Beach Post in 2000 that she had suspected her husband of having an affair and wanted to leave him - but the car lot and other properties were in her name and she feared what might happen to her if she went through with it.
She allegedly told her mother, "If anything happens to me, Mike done it." He has never been charged and has denied involvement.
But last year, Rosenfeld said that the case against her was falling apart.
One DNA sample somehow showed both male and female genes, and the other could have come from one out of every 20 women.
But even if that hair did come from Keen-Warren, it could have been deposited before the car was reported stolen.
Rosenfeld said that Marlene Warrens son and another witness told detectives that the car deputies found wasnt actually the killers, although investigators insisted it was.
Greg Rosenfeld, Keen-Warrens attorney, noted how the state of Floridas case against his client was falling apart and that the evidence against her was weak
Orange, hair-like fibers were found inside the convertible that was reported stolen from Michaels car lot a month before the shooting which initially linked Keen-Warren directly to the killing
Keen-Warren has maintained her innocence even after her plea and was originally sentenced to 12 years in prison but the Floridas law in 1990 allowed significant credit for good behavior
Last year, Aronberg, the attorney, acknowledged that there were holes in the case - noting that the gaps were caused by the three decades it took to get to trial, including the death of a key witness.
Michael Warren was convicted in 1994 of grand theft, racketeering and odometer tampering.
He served almost four years in prison - a punishment his then-attorneys said was disproportionately long because of suspicions he was involved in his wife´s death.
He has also always insisted that his new wife was innocent of the murder of his first wife.
Rosenfeld noted how Keen-Warren was facing a life sentence if convicted at trial, but agreeing to a guilty plea would allow her to be released in less than two years.
We are absolutely thrilled that Ms. Keen-Warren has been released from prison and is returning to her family, Rosenfeld said in a text message.
As weve stated from the beginning, she did not commit this crime.
