People Magazine Investigates Recap for Sex Clowns Murder
-This week’s episode of People Magazine Investigates is titled Sex. Clowns. Murder. and deals with the assassination of a woman by a killer clown. The case took place in the sleepy town of Wellington, Florida.
-Marlene Warren was the victim of this heinous crime and was described as a loving, beautiful woman by her son Joseph. He remembers how his biological dad died when he was young and then Marlene would go on to marry Michael Warren, who would step in as a father for him and his brother John.
-Joseph also remembers his mother being a painter and their growing up years. Sadly, John would die due to internal injuries after a car accident in 1988.
-Marlene took her son’s death hard, but stied to remain strong.
-Two years later, in May 1990, Marlene was home, cooking breakfast for Joseph and his friends. A clown came to the door with flowers and balloons….and would then go on to shoot her in cold blood. Joseph remembers trying to save her as the clown escaped. He remembers seeing the clown calmly get into the car and get away. He called 911 and tried to go after him as his friends stayed with Marlene.
-Joseph would not be able to catch the clown. He went on to describe what happened to the police, remembering that the clown had big brown eyes and was wearing Army boots. Further investigation showed that there were no gun casings at the scene, inferring that a pistol was used.
-Joseph recalls telling Michael what happened and how he was confused. Everyone would head to the hospital, where they were working on Marlene. She was unresponsive, but still alive at that point.
-Michael was questioned and wondered if an upset tenant was the culprit. She’d been managing several properties at the time as part of her job.
-Marlene also loved clowns, which made people wonder if she was the intended target….but nobody knew why.
-Marlene died two days later surrounded by family.
-The community as a whole was scared after Marlene’s death and wondered if there was a killer on the loose.
-A few days later, the car believed to been used the day of the shooting was found abandoned in a grocery store parking lot. Brown hair and orange hair from a wig were found, making it more believable that this was the car used that day.
-A shop owner remembers a woman coming to her store after closing, looking for aafter clown costume. She reluctantly let her in to buy the costume, makeup and a wig. However, the woman used cash to pay for it, so there was no way to trace the purchase. The owner recalls the woman being very tall with long dark hair.
-A woman matching this very description was also said to have been at a grocery store the morning of the shooting, buying the same balloons and flowers brought to the scene of the crime.
-Investigators now believe the killer could be a woman.
-Four days later, Marlene’s funeral was held. Jospeh was terrified to go back to the house and went to move in with is grandmother, all the while trying to help law enforcement.
-Joseph recalls that Michael pulled away after John’s death….to the point where Marlene was thinking of divorcing him.
-He was the sole beneficiary to inherit everything if Marlene were to die, giving him motive. Had they gotten divorced (and had Michael known Marlene’s plans), he would have gotten nothing.
-A car rental place called Payless was discovered to be used to obtain the car used in the killing. However, they never got the car back, with the car instead going to A Bargain Motors, who used deceptive techniques to obtain cars from Payless.
-A Bargain Motors was called and after further investigation, it is learned that Michael was having an affair with a repossession agent named Sheila Keen. More interestingly, she fit the description of the woman buying the costume, flowers and balloons…AND she also wore combat boots on a frequent basis.
-Both Michael and Sheila are questioned separately. They both deny the affair and give alibis for the time of the shooting. However, Sheila was unwilling to give specific details, other than the fact that she was repossessing cars that day.
-It is later discovered that her ex-husband owned a .38 special revolver, the same gun used to kill Marlene. She claimed that it disappeared at some point when they moved and that she had no idea what happened to it.
-After the costume shop owner was able to identify Sheila via photograph, Sheila is considered a suspect. There was not enough evidence to hold her based on what was found in her house and the car. However, she and Michael were suspected of being involved.
-Joseph was shocked over this and could not believe the man who was his father figure could be involved in killing his mom.
-New evidence could clear them, thanks to Edward Bahr confessing to Marlene’s murder to an inmate while in prison.
-Edward gave a description of what he claimed happened, down to a woman buying his costume. However, his story was inconsistent and didn’t fit what happened, nor did his height and build. This proved that he was not the killer and it is believed that he admitted to it to get a better sentence for his armed robbery charges.
-Joseph was promised half of the insurance money from Michael, only to find out that Michael was paid the entire thing 30 days after the murder….despite him telling Joseph otherwise.
-Michael is soon brought in on racketeering charges and sentenced to eight years in prison. He is released after less than four years.
-Joseph ended up with PTSD and addiction issues, living in fear of Michael and life in general.
-The case went cold until 2013, when advances in DNA helped bring it back to light. By 2016, evidence on the balloons were able to link Sheila to the case. She is arrested in September 2017 for first degree murder.
-In a bizarre twist, Sheila and Michael had actually gotten married years before her arrest.
-At the time of her arrest, Sheila asked is Michael was also being arrested. Michael himself had nothing to say in the matter.
-Joseph was happy to have answers and some closure in his mom’s murder.
-Despite the arrest, some of the evidence had been allegedly tampered with, leading to the defense trying to not allow it in court.
-The defense also wanted a manslaughter charge in favor of a murder charge, but the prosecution refused.
-Sheila was found guilty in 2023 and sentenced to 12 years in prison, the minimum in 1990. This did not sit well with Joseph, who said this was not enough.
-There is not enough evidence to charge Michael or to prove he was involved, but Jospeh hopes that changes.
-In another twist, Sheila is expected to be released from prison on December 12, 2024, due to time served before her trial. She would have served a total of seven years in prison.
