Carrying flowers, balloons, and a gun
Saturday, May 26, 1990
On that morning, in upscale Wellington, Florida, forty-year-old Marlene Warren opened her door to a delivery of flowers and balloons held by a clown. She expected a gift, instead, she was shot in the face. Her twenty-one-year-old son witnessed the crime. The clown fled in a Chrysler LeBaron, parked in the driveway. Marlene succumbed to her injuries two days later. A killer clown on the loose panicked the quiet community.
It would take twenty-seven years for anyone to be arrested for the crime.
Who’d want to murder Marlene?
Marlene had suspected her husband, Michael, who owned a used car dealership, of having an affair. She wanted a divorce, but it would get complicated, because many of their properties, including the dealership, were in her name. Michael stood to lose a lot.
A woman named Sheila Keen, who was also married, worked for Michael and was responsible for repossessing vehicles. Though Michael and Sheila denied it, others at the dealership were sure they were having an affair. Michael was suspected of the murder but had a rock-solid alibi. That left Sheila Keen as the prime suspect.
