TWO PEOPLE WHO WITNESSED A WOMAN MURDERED BY A CLOWN SPEAK OUT FOR THE FIRST TIME

The Victim's Husband Remains a Person of Interest in the Case, According to Police

"48 Hours" Investigates in "The Clown Did It"

Saturday, April 21, 10:00 PM, ET/PT

Nearly three decades after a woman was shot in her Palm Beach County, Fla., home by someone wearing a clown costume, two people who were there describe what they saw in an interview with 48 HOURS correspondent Peter Van Sant.

Van Sant and 48 HOURS investigate the 1990 murder of Marlene Warren and the decades-long hunt for her killer in "The Clown Did It" to be broadcast Saturday, April 21 (10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. It is a case that rocked the Florida neighborhood where Warren lived at the time, has haunted family members ever since and turns on technological advances that helped police finally make an arrest.

Warren opened the door of her Wellington home and was shot in the face by a mysterious clown bearing balloons, flowers and a gun. Joe Ahrens, Warren's son, tells 48 HOURS the clown calmly walked back to a car and drove off. Warren died two days later.

"I remember that being one of the most terrible days of my life," says Ahrens.

"At first we thought maybe it was a balloon popped, but when we saw her fall, we knew something was definitely, seriously wrong," Ahrens says. Also in the home at the time was Ahren's friend Jeannie Pratt who tells 48 HOURS she and Ahrens jumped in a car but couldn't catch up to the clown. "It was like, poof, just disappeared."

Three hours after the shooting, police got an anonymous tip from a female caller telling them to look at Warren's husband, Mike. But he had a solid alibi for the time of the shooting. The caller also told police about an employee of Mike Warren's, Shelia Keen. Within days, police learned Keen fit the description of a woman who bought a clown costume, flowers and balloons. They also found fibers that appeared to be from a clown wig inside Keen's home. And then there were rumors that Mike Warren and Keen were lovers, according to police reports from the original investigation.

Police never found a murder weapon, and no arrests were made in 1990. Mike Warren and Shelia Keen both denied having an affair, and both denied having anything to do with Marlene's murder. But in 2002, 12 years after the murder, they got married.

In 2017, 27 years after the murder, investigators say they finally developed DNA evidence to make their case. Sheila Keen Warren was arrested and charged with Marlene Warren's murder.

Do investigators have enough evidence to prove their case?

Sheila Keen Warren has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.

The detective leading the cold case investigation, Paige McCann confirmed to 48 HOURS that Mike Warren is still a person of interest in the case. He has not been charged in connection with the crime.

Van Sant approached Mike Warren at his home in Virginia and he denied having anything to do with planning the murder of Marlene Warren. Van Sant also asked about Sheila Keen Warren. "I don't think she had anything to do with this," Mike Warren tells Van Sant. "If I thought she had something to do with this, I wouldn't have been with her."

"Everybody loved her," Ahrens says of his mother. "She was my everything. My mom, my friend. She was my everything."

48 HOURS: "The Clown Did It" is produced by Sarah Prior and Richard Fetzer. Michelle Feuer is the development producer. Gary Winter is the producer-editor. Karen Brenner and Joan Adelman are the editors. Judy Tygard is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Susan Zirinsky is the senior executive producer.

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