Prosecution seeks death penalty in killer clown murder case
Sheila Warren is accused of dressing up like a clown and killing the wife of a man she later married.
A Florida judge has rejected defense attorneys’ bids for accused "Killer Clown" Sheila Keen-Warren to be freed from jail pending trial, and for prosecutors to be sanctioned for their handling of the case, court records show.
Keen-Warren, the woman accused of gunning down her husband’s former wife in late May 1990 while dressed as a clown, will remain behind bars as she awaits trial decades after the alleged murder. Florida Circuit Judge Scott Suskauer on Friday acknowledged "the delays in this case, especially the most recent delays attributable to the State," but rejected the defense’s motion for Keen-Warren’s pre-trial release.
In the motion – the defense’s second push for Keen-Warren’s release pending trial – attorney Greg Rosenfeld argued that his client has spent five years in jail as she awaits trial.
"Ms. Keen-Warren is presumed to be innocent," he wrote. "She should not be punished and should not have to sit in jail pretrial, because the State repeatedly fails to follow the law."
Sheila Keen Warren, right, appears in court for a pre-trial hearing Monday morning, Nov. 13, 2017. Keen Warren is facing charges in the death of Marlene Warren in 1990. (Lannis Waters/Palm Beach Post/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Rosenfeld instead sought house arrest with restrictions. On Tuesday, he told Fox News Digital his client "is not guilty."
"She did not commit this crime," he wrote in an emailed statement. "The defense team will continue to fight and Ms. Keen-Warren is looking forward to having her day in court."
Marlene Warren, 40, was shot and killed at her Wellington, Florida, home on Saturday, May 26, 1990, officials have said. She had just finished breakfast with her son and his friends around 10:45 a.m. when they spotted the vehicle roll into the driveway, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said.
Photo shows Marlene Warren, who was shot and killed in the entryway of her Wellington, Florida, home in the infamous 'Killer Clown' case of 1990. (Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office)
A person who was allegedly wearing a red nose, an orange-haired wig and face paint exited the sedan and walked to the home’s front door, police said.
"The person dressed as the clown was carrying a flower arrangement and two balloons," the sheriff’s office went on. One balloon reportedly bore a picture of Snow White, the other was emblazoned with the words, "You're the Greatest!"
"Marlene answered the front door and as the clown offered the items to her, witnesses heard a gunshot and Marlene fell to the ground," police said. "The person dressed as a clown calmly walked back to the LeBaron and drove away."
Warren suffered a gunshot wound to the face and was rushed to a local hospital, where she died two days later.
Police arrested Keen-Warren 27 years later, on Sept. 26, 2017.
Investigators learned Keen-Warren, who was married to someone else at the time of the murder, went on to wed Marlene’s husband, Michael Warren, in 2002. The pair had been living in Tennessee, where they operated a restaurant, police said.
A grand jury voted on Aug. 31, 2017, to charge Keen-Warren with Marlene’s murder. Police then tracked her to Washington County, Virginia, where they arrested her without incident. She was 54 at the time.
In Friday’s latest rulings, Suskauer further rejected Rosenfeld’s push for sanctions against prosecutors, who produced a "clown sighting file" — just eight days before Keen-Warren was scheduled to go to trial, and despite previous claims that no such documents existed.
Paramedics take Marlene Warren to an ambulance on May 26, 1990, after she was shot in front of her home in Wellington, Fla. (Mark Randall/Sun Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The 25-page file contains information related to other reports of clown sightings in the area at the time of Warren’s slaying, court records show. It allegedly includes the names and contact information related for "roughly 40 credible" clown-sighting leads from around the time of the murder.
Rosenfeld argued that prosecutors "failed to disclose" additional details of exculpatory evidence, including interviews with a man who allegedly confessed to the murder.
Suskauer ruled Friday that prosecutors’ and law enforcements’ delay in producing the file was not "willful conduct," court records state.
No new trial date has been set.
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