Wellington 'clown' murder case gets two-hour treatment on ABC's "20/20" program tonight
WELLINGTON — For nearly three decades, the Wellington 'clown' murder case confounded Palm Beach County investigators. Tonight, ABC News will share it with the nation.
In May 1990, a person dressed as a clown, wearing an orange wig and white face paint, waited for Marlene Warren to answer the front door of her Wellington Aero Club home. The face-paint-wearing visitor handed her red and white carnations and foil balloons, then pulled out a gun and fatally shot her.
The case concluded April 25 when the person charged with killing Marlene Warren, Sheila Keen-Warren, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. The Wellington homicide will be the focus of this week's episode of the ABC news television program "20/20."
Post archive, 2017: Clown murder shattered Wellington’s innocence: ‘My friends were fearful’
Post archive, 2018: Evidence collected since 1990 murder by killer clown finally unveiled
"The Case of the Killer Clown" is scheduled to air at 9 p.m. on WPBF-25, Palm Beach County's ABC affiliate. The episode will include interviews with former Palm Beach Post reporters Barbara Marshall and Daphne Duret and current Post reporter Hannah Phillips, as well as other key figures in the case.
At the plea hearing, Keen-Warren was sentenced to 12 years in prison, with credit for five and a half years of time she had spent in jail following her 2017 arrest.
The cast of characters: Meet the key players in the Wellington 'clown' murder trial
Investigators suspected her of Marlene Warren's murder early on, tipped off by coworkers that she was having an affair with Marlene's husband, Michael. Keen-Warren denied the rumors but married Michael years later.
BeforeMarlene Warren was killed, she told family that she feared her husband would kill her. Michael Warren was never charged in connection to his former wife's death.
After Keen-Warren's plea agreement was complete, her defense attorney, Greg Rosenfeld, maintained that she is innocent, telling the Post Keen-Warren took the offer because she did not want to risk being wrongfully convicted and sent to prison for life.
Assistant State Attorney Reid Scott told Circuit Judge Scott Suskauer that Keen-Warren pleaded guilty "because she is guilty."
Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on Twitter at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: ABC's "20/20" to air two-hour show on Wellington 'clown' murder case
