The killer clown who killed an American woman and married her widow was released

A woman who dressed as a clown and pleaded guilty to killing the wife of a man she would later marry in 1990 was released from prison Saturday, ending a case that was bizarre even by Florida standards.

Sheila Keen-Warren, 61, was released 18 months after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the shooting of Marlene Warren, according to Florida Department of Corrections records. The plea agreement came shortly before the trial began.

Keen-Warren, who maintained his innocence even after his plea, was sentenced to 12 years in prison. But he had been in custody for seven years since his arrest in 2017, and Florida’s 1990 law allows significant discretion for good behavior. He was expected to be released in about two years.

“Sheila Keen-Warren will always be an admitted murderer and will carry that stain every day for the rest of her life,” Palm Beach County State’s Attorney Dave Aronberg said in a statement Saturday.

Keen-Warren’s attorney, Greg Rosenfeld, said he accepted the plea deal because he was released in less than two years and faced life in prison if convicted at trial.

“We are absolutely thrilled that Ms. Keen-Warren has been released from prison and returned to her family. As we have stated from the beginning, she did not commit this crime,” he said.