State wants death penalty in ‘clown killer’ murder
Prosecutors said Wednesday they will be seeking the death penalty against the woman accused of being the killer clown in a 27-year-old murder case.
The announcement came during a court appearance for Sheila Keen Warren, who arrived in Palm Beach County from Virginia on Tuesday night.
Authorities arrested Keen Warren, 54, on Sept. 26, based on a recent grand jury indictment concerning the shooting death of Marlene Warren in Wellington.
She is being held in the Palm Beach County jail without bond.
“My office is committed to pursuing justice for the victim,” State Attorney Dave Aronberg told reporters, explaining his prosecutors “carefully deliberated” the decision to seek capital punishment in the case. “Sometimes justice can be delayed but, justice eventually arrives.”
Aronberg did not elaborate on what those deliberations entailed.
Keen Warren is being represented by veteran criminal defense attorney Richard Lubin. He told reporters he has not yet been provided with any information concerning what led to the indictment of his client.
“She vehemently denies her guilt and we’ll proceed as usual,” Lubin said, adding that he reserved his right to request bond for Keen Warren at a future hearing before Circuit Judge Samantha Schosberg Feuer.
“In Florida, judges have discretion to grant bail in a first-degree murder case, depending on the strength or weakness of the case,” Lubin said.
He’s a veteran of highprofile cases over the years, including his work as one of the lawyers representing Nouman Raja, the former police officer who is awaiting trial for the shooting death of stranded motorist Corey Jones.
Sheriff Ric Bradshaw credited new DNA evidence and recent witness interviews with enabling detectives to close in on Keen Warren, who was identified as a suspect before the case went cold.
But aside from citing the importance of the DNA, Bradshaw and Aronberg have declined to disclose any specifics about the basis for the indictment. There is no arrest report filed in the case that outlines what led to the charge.
“I think we all assume that since an arrest has been made now, that there’s something that they didn’t have before that they have now,” Lubin said, adding that soon he’ll learn the facts of the case.
Keen Warren was booked into Palm Beach County Jail shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday; the Sheriff’s Office tweeted a video of her walking into the jail. She’s charged with first-degree murder with a firearm.
After announcing her arrest last week, authorities were quick to point out that she is married to Michael Warren — Marlene’s husband at the time of her death. The sheriff also said the investigation remains open. Michael Warren, originally identified as another person of interest, has not been charged.
Known as “Debbie,” Keen Warren and her spouse of 15 years had settled in small, historic Abingdon, Va., within the Blue Ridge Mountains.
They had a reputation as a hardworking, sociable couple who until last year operated a fast-food restaurant in nearby Kingsport, Tenn.
Their neighbors and customers had no idea of their past alleged ties to one of South Florida’s high-profile murders.
The 40-year-old victim answered the door to her home in the upscale Aero Club development to accept a bouquet and balloons from a clown wearing an orange wig, a red bulb nose, gloves and a smile painted on its white face.
Right away, the clown fired and a bullet hit Warren’s face. She died within two days, officials said.
Detectives back then said the clown left the scene in a white convertible Chrysler LeBaron without a license plate. The car was found four days later abandoned at a shopping center parking lot.
At the time of the shooting, the woman then known as Sheila Keen was 27 and working for Michael Warren’s used car dealership, Bargain Motors Inc. of West Palm Beach, helping to repossess cars.
Employees at a West Palm Beach costume shop said a woman had bought a clown costume two days before the murder. Two store clerks at the time picked Sheila Keen Warren out of a photo lineup, according to published reports.
Detectives also have told reporters that a search of Keen Warren’s home yielded fibers from a bright orange wig. And similar fibers were found in the getaway car.
Finally, employees from a store less than a mile from where Keen Warren lived in suburban West Palm Beach identified her as the woman who bought flowers and balloons about 90 minutes before the killing. But the case went cold until detectives were able to reopen it in 2014 because of a $125,000 federal grant.