WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (HPD) — The trial of a Florida woman accused of dressing up as a clown in 1990 and shooting to death the wife of a man she later married has been postponed after disclosure. from a police file that contained information about other clown sighting leads at the time.
Prosecutors told defense attorneys for Sheila Keen Warren on Wednesday that they had found a “clown sighting file” that the defense had been demanding but prosecutors had said they did not have, according to court documents filed by defense attorneys. in the case of Palm Beach County. .
Defense attorneys in the motion asked for a postponement of the first-degree murder trial that was scheduled to begin next week. The jury trial was canceled on Friday.
The defense is also seeking sanctions against prosecutors for what they say are instances of not disclosing evidence to the defendant and asking that Keen Warren be released from jail before trial.
The 25-page “clown sighting file” has the names, addresses or phone numbers of 40 credible leads, according to court documents filed by defense attorneys.
“It goes without saying that this will take the defense considerable time and resources to investigate,” defense attorneys stressed.
Marlene Warren was fatally shot in the face in May 1990 by someone in an orange wig, red nose and white face paint who handed her carnations and balloons after answering the door of her luxurious South Florida home.
Keen Warren was arrested in 2017 in Abingdon, Virginia. Detectives at the time said advances in DNA technology, coupled with evidence collected decades ago, showed that Keen Warren was the killer. At the time of the shooting, she was an employee of Marlene Warren’s husband, Michael, at his used car lot. They got married in 2002.
Keen Warren has pleaded not guilty.