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Trial date for killer clown suspect moved to 2021

Sheila Keen-Warren accused of dressing as clown, killing future husband’s wife in 1990
Sheila Keen-Warren mugshot from October 2017
Posted at 11:54 AM, Jun 05, 2020
and last updated 2020-06-05 11:54:06-04

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The trial for a woman accused of dressing up as a clown and killing her future husband's wife in 1990 has been bumped to next year.

Palm Beach County Judge Joseph Marx on Thursday set the new trial date to start in April 2021.

Sheila Keen-Warren faces a charge of first-degree murder.

Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Detective Paige McCann said during a September 2017 news conference that Sheila Keen, as she was known at the time, was dressed like a clown when she fatally shot Marlene Warren at her Wellington home.

"Marlene answered the front door and the clown had two balloons, as well as a bouquet of flowers, and went to hand Marlene those items," McCann told reporters.

Marlene Warren, who had been eating breakfast with her then-22-year-old son and several of his friends, was surprised and commented, "How nice."

Marlene Warren
Marlene Warren was fatally shot in the face by a woman who was dressed as a clown in May 1990.

"It was at that time that the clown pulled out a gun and shot Marlene in the face," McCann said.

The clown then calmly walked back to the white Chrysler LeBaron in which she had arrived and drove away.

Marlene Warren died at a hospital two days later.

Keen-Warren had long been considered a suspect in the shooting, but it took investigators 27 years to make an arrest. She eventually married Michael Warren in 2002 and moved to Tennessee, where the couple operated a restaurant. She was arrested in Virginia in 2017.