PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. (TCN) — The 61-year-old woman who killed her husband’s then-wife in 1990 while dressed as a clown was released from prison less than two years after she pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
Florida Department of Corrections records show Sheila Keen-Warren left prison on Saturday, Nov. 2. A judge sentenced her to 12 years behind bars, but The Associated Press reports she got out early due to time served and good behavior. If she went to trial, she could have faced life in prison.
Keen-Warren’s arrest was 27 years in the making. According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, on May 26, 1990, Marlene Warren, her 22-year-old son Joseph Aherns, and his friends were hanging out at their house on Takeoff Place in Wellington. At approximately 10:45 a.m., a white Chrysler LeBaron stopped in Warren’s driveway, and a person dressed as a clown carrying a flower arrangement and balloons exited the vehicle. Marlene Warren answered the door, and moments later, people inside the home heard a gunshot. The clown reportedly “calmly walked back to the LeBaron and drove away.”
Marlene Warren was shot in the face and died two days later.
The sheriff’s office said investigators at the time identified Keen-Warren as a suspect but never arrested her.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit reopened the case in 2014 and began retesting DNA. Investigators learned Keen-Warren married Marlene Warren’s husband, Michael Warren, in 2002. The couple had moved to Tennessee and owned a restaurant. Detectives established probable cause to arrest Keen-Warren, and on Aug. 31, 2017, a grand jury returned an indictment for first-degree murder. Officials located Keen-Warren in Virginia and arrested her on Sept. 26, 2017.
Keen-Warren entered the guilty plea on April 25, 2023.
According to The Associated Press, Keen-Warren worked for Marlene Warren’s husband at his used car lot. People believe they were having an affair, but they both denied it. Orange hair-like fibers were found inside the LeBaron, which had been abandoned and reported stolen from Michael Warren’s lot.
Marlene Warren allegedly wanted to divorce her husband but feared repercussions. She allegedly told her mother, “If anything happens to me, Mike did it.”
Keen-Warren’s attorneys there was not enough proof to link her to the crime. Michael Warren has also never been arrested or charged in connection with the case. He told The Associated Press following her release, “We are absolutely thrilled that Ms. Keen-Warren has been released from prison and is returning to her family. As we’ve stated from the beginning, she did not commit this crime.”
Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg wrote in a statement, “Sheila Keen-Warren will always be an admitted convicted murderer and will wear that stain for every day for the rest of her life.”
