A clown costume, hair fibers, cigarette butt, and Publix receipt are just some of the evidence Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office detectives have collected over 27 years in a Wellington killer clown murder case.
These layers of evidence are now revealed as prosecutors released their discovery against the suspect arrested last year for the murder, Sheila Keen-Warren.
For 27 years, detectives believed Keen-Warren (previously known as Sheila Keen) dressed in a full-face clown costume and shot a Wellington woman in the face, the documents show.
The victim, Marleen Warren, was married to Keen’s secret boyfriend, Michael Warren.
Keen-Warren, now 54 and married to Michael Warren, is now charged with first-degree murder in Marleen Warren’s death.
Contact 5 investigators are pouring over the thousands of pages of documents in Keen-Warren’s case.
Detectives connected the getaway car a Chrysler LeBaron, to Michael Warren's car business. Inside, they found orange wig fibers and brown hair. DNA testing was limited in 1990, however.
Two costume shop clerks testified they saw Shelia Keen-Warren purchase clown supplies from their shop the week before the murder. Even then, detectives didn't have enough evidence for an arrest.
In 2016, FBI testing confirmed the brown hairs found in the getaway car were consistent with Keen-Warren's. The orange fibers mated a mod-wig, records show.
Michael Warren married Shelia in Las Vegas in 2002. The two moved to Virginia, where Shelia went by Debbie.
Marlene Warren was shot in the head, according to a Palm Beach County Medical Examiner's report.
The Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office has said they will seek the death penalty for Keen-Warren. They have not said if Michael Warren is still under investigation.
Bombshell Testimony
It was April 10th, 1989. Marlene Warren’s son, Joey Aherns, had just been sentenced in an attempted murder case. As people spilled into the hallway, Marlene’s husband Michael, asked Joey’s lawyer, Chris DeSantis “what the ramifications would be if a husband killed his wife on her estate.”
That bombshell coming from newly released testimony with DeSantis in 1991.
He wondered, “is this guy nuts?” Desantis looked around, realized Marlene wasn’t in earshot and then answered.
“Florida law is peculiar,” he said. It’s not an issue whether he kills his wife, only if he was convicted of murder. A lesser charge, or no charge at all, he would inherit.
Even more peculiar, in the testimony, he continued, if the husband couldn’t be tied at all to the murder, he would get away Scott free.
DeSantis remembers asking if Michael had a girlfriend.
Marlene was shot and killed by a clown-clad murderer at their Wellington home in 1990.
Twenty-seven years later, in August last year, Michael’s new wife, Shelia Keen-Warren was arrested, charged in Marlene’s murder.
In testimony, DeSantis said later “when I first heard about it on TV I said 'whoa, wait a second, this guy asked me this question.'”
DeSantis said later that whatever he told Michael Warren was in good faith as a curiosity, and if it, in fact, it was exploited that he wasn’t happy about it. That was back in 1991.
We called his Stuart law office but haven’t heard back.
