The woman who dressed as a clown and shot dead the wife of a man she would later marry was released from prison on Saturday, a mere 18 months after she pleaded guilty to the murder.
Sheila Keen-Warren, 61, was sentenced to 12 years in a Florida prison in April 2023, with credit for the 5 1/2 years she spent awaiting trial for the murder of Marlene Warren, as CrimeOnline previously reported.
Prosecutors said that Keen-Warren, who married used car dealer — and her boss — Michael Warren after his wife’s death and moved with him to Virginia, knocked on Marlene Warren’s door on May 26, 1990, dressed as a clown and holding flowers and balloons, and shot her in the face. Then she drove off in a white Chrysler LeBaron, which had been reported stolen for Michael Warren’s used car lot a month earlier and was later found abandoned.
Inside the car, investigators found red wig fibers and DNA that matched Keen-Warren. Additionally, employees at a Publix supermarket — the only store in the area that sold the “You’re the Greatest” balloon the killer gave to Marlene Warren — said a person matching Keen-Warren’s description bought such a balloon from him. And employees at a store that sold clown costumes tentatively identified Keen-Warren as the woman who bought a clown outfit and a wig from their store.
Keen-Warren has insisted she is not guilty, even after her guilty plea. Her attorney, Greg Rosenfeld, said she took the plea deal because she faced life in prison had she been convicted at trial.
“Sheila Keen-Warren will always be an admitted convicted murderer and will wear that stain for every day for the rest of her life,” Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg said in a statement Saturday, ABC News reported.
“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,” Rosenfeld said Saturday in a text message.
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[Featured image: Sheila Keen-Warren/Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office/Palm Beach Post via AP]
