What did Sheila Keen Warren do? Incident explored as Floria killer clown pleads guilty to 1990 Marlene Warren murder

On Tuesday, April 25, Sheila Keen Warren, 59, pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Marlene Warren, who was fatally shot in 1990 by a suspect dressed as a clown in Wellington, Florida.

The suspect in the incident, dubbed the Florida Killer Clown, reportedly fled the scene in a car. This resulted in the case going cold until 2017 when police arrested Sheila Keen Warren.

The arrest was made after police identified her as a suspect based on DNA evidence found in the abandoned vehicle.

While the motive for the killing is unclear, police said that investigations into the case led them to zero in on Sheila Keen Warren, who married the widower of Marlene Warren in 2002.

Police said that at the time of the victim’s death in 1990, the suspect was an employee of Marlene Warren’s husband, Michael, at his used car lot.

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Details of Marlene Warren's death explored as killer clown Sheila Keen Warren pleads guilty

On May 26, 1990, Marlene Warren was fatally shot in the face in front of her son, Ahrens, who was 22 at the time of his mother's murder. Detailing the incident, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said that on the day of the killing, a person dressed as a clown, carrying a flower arrangement and two balloons, showed up at the victim's home.

Marlene, who answered the door, was shot immediately after the suspect handed her the flowers and the balloons.

Marlene, who was shot in the face, reportedly fell to the ground as the killer clown fled the scene. At the time, police could not identify a suspect in the case but found a getaway car abandoned with orange hair fibers inside the vehicle. In 2014, investigators reportedly learned that Sheila, an employee at the victim’s widower business, had married him in 2002.

It is unclear what propelled the authorities to suspect Sheila's involvement in the death. However, in 2017 investigators reportedly linked her DNA to the crime scene. Police then arrested Sheila, who has denied any involvement in the incident.

As per NBC news, relatives told the police in 2000 that Marlene had confessed that her husband was allegedly having an affair and supposedly told her mother,

“If anything happens to me, Mike did it.”

After spending years behind bars, Sheila accepted a plea deal from prosecutors, pleading guilty to second-degree murder.

As per NBC, Sheila’s trial was set to start next month, and if convicted, she could spend the rest of her life behind bars. However, as part of the plea deal, Sheila was sentenced to 12 years in prison, with credit for the years already spent behind bars, and is expected to be released from prison next year.

Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg, in a statement, said:

“Sheila Keen Warren has finally been forced to admit that she was the one who dressed as a clown and took the life of an innocent victim. She will be a convicted murderer for the rest of her days.”

Meanwhile, in a phone interview with the Associated Press, Sheila Keen Warren's attorney Greg Rosenfeld insisted that his client was innocent, adding that she only accepted the plea deal to avoid a longer sentence in prison.