Lawyers for the Florida “Killer Clown” accused have claimed another inmate previously boasted about committing the 1990 murder she is charged with – and now want the details to be revealed at her trial.
Sheila Keen-Warren is accused of fatally shooting Marlene Warren in a clown costume in Wellington, Florida in 1990 and of marrying Marlene’s widower, Michael Warren, years later in 2002.
But her lawyers say Edward Bahr bragged years ago to his cellmate in solitary confinement that he was hired by Marlene’s husband Michael to carry out the murder because Marlene divorced and took over his car dealership, according to a recent defense court filing.
Michael’s current wife, Keen-Warren, was arrested 27 years later after the murder of Marlene and is scheduled to stand trial on May 12.
Sheila Keen-Warren is accused of fatally shooting Marlene Warren in Wellington, Florida in 1990 while wearing a clown costume. She was arrested 27 years later in September 2017
In a recently filed defense court, attorneys say Edward Bahr, a Maine inmate, bragged to his cell block neighbor “that he murdered a woman in Wellington, Florida.”
Costume store employees reportedly identified Sheila Keen-Warren as the woman who bought a clown costume two days before the murder. But defense attorneys argue witnesses gave different descriptions of the costume purchased from Spotlight
Marlene, 40, was shot in the face in May 1990 after opening the door of her Palm Beach home to a person dressed as a clown
Marlene, 40, was shot in the face in May 1990 after opening the door of her Palm Beach home to a person dressed as a clown. The clown handed her balloons and flowers, then coolly fired a single shot before driving off in a white sedan. She died two days later.
“The person dressed as a clown was carrying a flower arrangement and two balloons,” the sheriff’s office said. One balloon reportedly carried a picture of Snow White, while the other read “You’re the Greatest!”.
Costume store employees reportedly identified Sheila Keen-Warren as the woman who had bought a clown costume a few days earlier.
Years after the murder, Keen-Warren married Michael Warren, Marlene Warren’s widower.
Michael Warren has claimed that neither he nor his current wife, Sheila, was involved in the May 1990 murder of his first wife, Marlene.
Michael, a car salesman, was not at home at the time. He and Sheila knew each other from work and were suspected of having an affair, but it was never proven.
Police, who never completed the investigation, used new DNA technology to test existing evidence they gathered at the crime scene, linking it to Keen-Warren, who was extradited from Virginia to Florida in 2017 for murder.
Now, new details released in a defense court filing reveal that the Maine state prison inmate has claimed responsibility for the murder and said he was offered a “substantial sum of money” in exchange. Bahr was not in prison at the time of Warren’s assassination.
Bahr is also said to have made similar statements to correctional staff and during his incarceration in Connecticut.
Paramedics take Marlene Warren to an ambulance on May 26, 1990 after she was shot outside her home in Wellington, Florida. It would be 27 years before her alleged killer was apprehended
Shown are the two balloons and flowers that the clown gave to Marlene. One of the balloons read “You are the greatest” and the other had a photo of Snow White
Crime scene investigators are pictured inside the Warren home after Marlene was shot in May 1990. The small bouquet that the clown gave her is pictured
Defense attorneys are asking District Judge Scott Siskauer to file an order that would allow Bahr’s “extrajudicial statements” and other evidence of “third-party fault” to be used at trial because they constitute exculpatory evidence that is “necessary.” in her defence.
Bahr told authorities that “he would tell him everything he knew” about Marlene Warren’s death [the detective] “could promise him that he would not get the electric chair,” says the submitted application.
While in solitary confinement with another prisoner, Bahr allegedly gave intricate details about the murder, such as that “he dressed up as a clown and shot the woman, that her husband owned a used car company called Bargain Motors, that a young Man came out of one of the rooms right after the shooting.’
This fellow inmate later gave an affidavit in which he detailed what Bahr allegedly told him and that he said Warren’s murder was “the ‘greatest thing’ he ever did.”
‘[H]He stated that in broad daylight he dressed up as a clown, then he went to this apartment where this woman lived and had knocked on the door and said delivery and she opened the door, he pointed a gun at her face and said, ha-ha, and shot her in the face,” the inmate told police.
Bahr reportedly told the inmate, “This guy had offered him a substantial sum of money to kill his wife,” the application says.
The transcript of the interview continues, “He said he wanted — he wanted his wife dead because … she was divorcing him (unintelligible) and she was supposed to take over the dealership.”
Michael and Sheila married in Las Vegas in 2002, years after the murder of his first wife. Edward Bahr reportedly told his cellmate, “This guy had offered him a substantial sum of money to kill his wife because she was going to divorce him and have her take over the dealership.”
Michael (left), now 65, says his wife (right) has been treated unfairly and is innocent. Keen-Warren denies the murder and is in prison awaiting trial
Attorneys described how he was known to brag about a murder in Ft. Lauderdale or Metro Dade.’
He also reportedly told the inmate “that a ‘female biker guy’ got the clown costume from the Stoplight costume shot” and that “he was hired by the murder victim’s husband during a meeting at the Mermaid Bar.”
When Bahr was questioned again during testimony in September 2022, he “denied saying it [the inmate] that he murdered Marlene Warren,” the file says.
He admitted that he had spoken out about the “clown murder” but that the conversations related to what he had seen on the TV news.
However, the application points to a glaring discrepancy: “However, there was no television in solitary confinement.”
In a motion filed in November, defense attorneys also asked that prosecutors be barred from mentioning evidence or witnesses allegedly showing Keen-Warren bought a clown costume two days before the murder.
The motion says evidence that Keen-Warren was the person who bought West Palm Beach’s Spotlight Capezio’s clown costume on May 24, 1990 is “irrelevant and unreliable” and “deprives her of her right to a fair trial.” dignity and due process.’
Police, who never completed the investigation, used new DNA technology to test existing evidence they gathered at the crime scene, linking it to Keen-Warren, who was extradited from Virginia to Florida in 2017 for murder ( Keen Warren in 2017).
Employees at the retailer had previously said that one person bought an orange wig, a “yellow and pink” clown suit and a makeup kit, but no mask.
But defense attorneys claim the witnesses gave different descriptions of the costume than what was purchased from Spotlight.
‘[T]This clown suit is not the one described by eyewitnesses to Marlene Warren’s murder,” they wrote.
A witness “said the clown wore gray overalls, like a mechanic’s uniform,” and wore a wig similar to “Bozo the Clown,” according to the filing.
Another witness said the clown was “wearing a white clown suit decorated with red hearts or diamonds,” while a third described the costume as having “blue dots,” the attorneys wrote. Both witnesses told police the wig was red.
A motion was also filed to bar details about a white Chrysler LeBaron convertible found in a Winn Dixie lot after it was reported stolen.
Prosecutors had previously claimed DNA found in the vehicle linked Keen-Warren to the crime.
But defense attorneys argued that the vehicle “is not the car driven by the clown who murdered Marlene Warren.”
They also want to rule out any mention of “hair or strands six to eight inches long” allegedly found on a ribbon attached to one of the balloons given to Warren when she was shot.
A motion was also filed to bar details about a white Chrysler LeBaron convertible found in a Winn Dixie lot after it was reported stolen. The limousine that the clown drove to Marlene’s house and then drove away was later found abandoned (above) in a parking lot
Michael was jailed on racketeering charges (above left in court) in 1992 and then removed from the map after serving three years in Florida prison. When his wife was killed, police suspected he was having an affair with Sheila (right on her driver’s license), but they denied it
The judge has yet to rule on several of the requests for evidence related to the circumstances of the killing.
He is expected to issue orders after holding two-day hearings in early March.
“More than 30 years after the murder of Marlene Warren is much of the evidence that Sheila Keen-Warren could have relied on to determine that someone else confessed to the murder, to charge state witnesses or to provide an alibi defense , unavailable for various reasons,” the application reads.
“The law allowed the state to take time to bring charges but not force Sheila Keen-Warren to conduct her case blindfolded and with one arm tied behind her back.”
Both the defense and prosecutors are expected to present their arguments on the motion in court on March 7-8.