48 Hours - Florida’s Killer Clown

Episode Date: July 15, 2024

How a killer dressed like a clown murdered a mom and almost got away with it. Peter Van Sant reports.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to this podcast ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app today. Even if you love the thrill of true crime stories as much as I do, there are times when you want to mix it up. And that's where Audible comes in, with all the genres you love and new ones to discover. Explore thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. Listening to Audible can lead to positive change in your mood, your habits,

and even your overall well-being. And you can enjoy Audible anytime, while doing household chores, exercising, commuting, you name it. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca. In 2014, Laura Heavlin was in her home in Tennessee when she received a call from California. Her daughter, Erin Corwin, was missing. The young wife of a Marine had moved to the California desert

to a remote base near Joshua Tree National Park. They have to alert the military. And when they do, the NCIS gets involved. From CBS Studios and CBS News, this is 48 Hours NCIS. Listen to 48 Hours NCIS ad-free starting October 29th on Amazon Music. The evil clowns you see in the movies, well, it came to life in this case. When your mom was growing up, was she fascinated with clowns? She was. She even painted pictures of them. fascinated with clowns. She was.

She even painted pictures of them. My mother, Marlene Warren, was a beautiful person. She was loving, caring, kind. On May 26, 1990, a woman answered her door in front of her 21-year- old son and saw a clown at the door handing her balloons and flowers. That was the worst day of my life. We were eating breakfast. We saw the colors of the reflections through the glass. It looked like a clown costume. My mother opened the door and I heard, how pretty? And I heard bang. I saw her fall

and I ran toward her as the clown was walking away and I saw that she'd been shot in the face. At that moment, I felt my heart and my soul just rip out of my body. What did you see on the clown's face? Well, it was a white face, nose, orangish-red hair, and it was just a clown suit. What does the clown do? Calmly walks right back to the car like nothing happened.

A person disguised as a clown walked up to Marlene Warren's Aero Club home in Wellington and shot her in the mouth. I was working as a prosecutor here in this office when it happened, and it was big news. Meanwhile, at her home, investigators gather evidence searching for clues. Killing with a great costume to conceal one's identity. And anybody passing by would probably say, oh, it's not nice. Somebody's getting flowers. It wouldn't be suspicious, and it would certainly make for the perfect crime. Marlene Warren was someone without any known enemies,

someone who cared deeply about her family, and they lived in a home in a pretty secluded part of Palm Beach County. Michael Warren was married to Marlene Warren. Michael was a local businessman in the car business. The Warrens' marriage seemed to be an ideal marriage, but for the people on the inside that knew better, Marlene was expressing issues with Michael Warren. The people closest to Michael Warren that worked with them knew there was something wrong because they were observing Michael Warren's interactions with a woman by the

name of Sheila Keene. And the rumors was what about Sheila and Mike? Well, it was more than a rumor that Sheila Keen and Michael Warren were having an affair. It was not hidden from any of the employees. In the hours after the murder of Marlene Warren, the suspects became clear it was Sheila Keen and was Michael Warren, but Michael Warren had an alibi. It was Sheila Keen and was Michael Warren, but Michael Warren had an alibi Michael and Sheila thought that they could get away with anything It took over 30 years to make sense of it all Peter Van Sant reports, murder by clown.

This house was the scene of a bizarre murder. That shooter, a clown carrying flowers and balloons. It's easy to see why this case has so much interest. Who isn't afraid of a killer clown? The 1990 murder of Marlene Warren, shot by someone dressed as a clown, haunted not just the public, but the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office. Despite identifying two suspects, the case for decades went unsolved. Dave Ehrenberg is the current state attorney.

This was an assassination. This was not a random act of violence. This was not a robbery. The unknowingness of this heinous crime, the fear, it was hell. Joe Ehrens was 21, living at home with his stepfather Mike and his mother Marlene when she was murdered. She was a good mother. Everything she did, she took pride in.

The morning of May 26, 1990, had started as a cheerful one. Joe, recuperating from a broken leg, was having breakfast at home with his mom and three friends when they saw a clown approaching, carrying balloons and flowers. And we kind of figured I had a cast on. Somebody was sending to heal and for gesture. This is like, oh, what a delightful gift to cheer you up with your broken leg. Right. My mother opened the door, and then we heard bang, and she fell.

At that point, we knew something was wrong. My mother was struggling to breathe, and then I jumped to the phone. You know, I called 911 right away. As the clown slowly and silently walked to a car, Joe and some of his friends tried to get a closer look at anything that might help describe the disguised attacker. The only thing that didn't have any color on it was the shoes that were solid black and the white gloves.

And did you notice anything about the clown's eyes? I did. That's the most thing I saw was the big brown eyes. And the clown gets in the car. What kind of car was it? It was a white LeBaron. And does the car peel off? No. It goes into gear and drives off like nothing happened. While some of Joe's friends remained at his house waiting for EMS, Joe got into Marlene's car and tried to chase down the clown.

But he couldn't catch up. He is seen here back home afterwards where TV news crews were on the scene. Meanwhile, with the clown's balloons and flowers left behind, Marlene was rushed to the hospital, barely alive, where she was put on life support. I kept telling her I love her and I don't want her to go and please don't leave me. Two days later, with no hope of a recovery, life support was removed and Marlene died. I knew my life was going to change and I knew it was going to become hell because she wasn't here to help me.

A top clue the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office had was Joe's description of the clown, about 6'1", tall, skinny, with orange hair, a red nose, and a big orange smile, and male. And those balloons left behind, they now seemed cruelly mocking. You're the greatest, one said. The other had a picture of Snow White and the seven dwarfs. Authorities had also spoken with Joe's stepfather, Mike Warren, who they learned had an alibi. He was in a car with friends heading to a racetrack when the shooting took place. Growing up with Mike Warren, what was that like? Was he a good dad? I thought so. That's the only father I knew. I mean, I was really young

when my real father and mother separated. Marlene and Mike were married when Joe was just three. They had built a comfortable life in Wellington, Florida, an affluent suburb. Marlene owned several businesses, including apartment complexes, and the couple ran Bargain Motors, specializing in used cars and rentals. While business was good, the marriage, says Joe, was troubled. He says his mother became convinced Mike was having an affair, making her fearful. She said, if anything does happen to me, your father did it. She said that to you? I told her, no way, he would never do anything like that. She said, don't put it past him.

Marlene shared that same fear with her mother, Shirley Twing. She says, if anything happens to me, Mike did it. We interviewed Shirley in 2017 when 48 Hours started investigating Marlene's murder. That's an ominous thing to say. Did you sense fear in her voice? Sure. Yes, I did. So when Shirley learned her daughter had been murdered, her mind went to Mike. Right away, I figured Mike had something to do with it. That's for damn sure.

But Mike had that alibi, so authorities were looking for someone else. And when they visited Bargain Motors, Mike's place of business, one name kept popping up. That woman with whom Mike was supposedly having an affair. Everybody at the Bargain Motors were reporting that you should look first at Sheila Keene. Aletha McRoberts, an assistant state attorney in Palm Beach County, has worked on the case from the beginning.

And within the next day or so, tips were being called in that you really should investigate Sheila Keene and Michael Warren. They were definitely seeing one another. Della Ward worked at Bargain Motors with Mike Warren. He had a lot of compassion, a lot of empathy. And people just were drawn to him, especially women. One of those women Della believed was Sheila Keene. I found her very nice, very bubbly.

You knew the way she looked at Michael. You just, you loved him. You could see it. Sheila, who also had a reputation for toughness, was a repo woman, repossessing cars at Bargain Motors. To do repos, you have to have some kind of guns. She told me, I keep a gun for my protection because people are crazy what they do. Sheila told investigators she was out working at the time of Marlene's murder. working at the time of Marlene's murder. She claimed that she was looking for repossession vehicles, but she was unable to provide any address that she went to so that they could

follow up and confirm it. As for the affair, both Sheila and Mike told investigators they were just friends. But that's not what authorities learned when they talked to Sheila's neighbors. The neighbors at that apartment complex believed that Michael Warren and Sheila Keene were husband and wife. Is there any doubt in your mind that there was a romantic relationship? There's no doubt. And they didn't hide it. An affair, though, isn't necessarily a motive for murder. Did anyone profit financially from Marlene's death?

Yes. Did anyone profit financially from Marlene's death? Yes. So Michael Warren profited. Largely the properties and assets that they owned together were in her name. So by her predeceasing him, he was able to obtain 100% of the assets. Investigators were also trying to locate local stores that had recently sold clown outfits. Deborah Offord had been working at a costume shop when two nights before Marlene's murder, a customer knocked at the door at closing time. She wanted to see the clown costumes.

I said, can you come back tomorrow? And she said, no, I need something right now. tomorrow. And she said, no, I need something right now. Deborah told investigators the customer paid cash, buying a clown suit, an orange wig, makeup, and a red clown nose. She was, I would say, about 5'10", long, thick, straight, like, chocolate-colored hair. Big brown eyes. Detectives later presented Debra with a photo lineup that included a picture of Sheila Keene. Debra identified Keene and one other woman as possibly being the person who bought the clown costume.

The sheriff's office also believed they located where the shooter bought those flowers and balloons, this supermarket. The buyer described as a white female with dark brown hair. The description of the customer given by the worker at the supermarket, brown hair, and at the costume store, brown hair, brown eyes, was consistent with Sheila Keene. And there was Sheila's reported affair with Mike Warren. It was intriguing, circumstantial evidence. But would it be enough to make an arrest? Listen to Murder in the Orange Grove, the Trouble Case Against Crosley Green,

early and ad-free with a 48-hour-plus subscription on Apple Podcasts. As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman. The scary cult classic

was set in a Chicago housing project. It was about this supernatural killer who would attack his victims if they said his name five times into a bathroom mirror. Candyman. Candyman? Now we all know chanting a name won't make a killer magically appear. But did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? I was struck by both how spooky it was, but also how outrageous it was. We're going to talk to the people who were there, and we're also going to uncover the larger story.

My architect was shocked when he saw how this was created. Literally shocked. And we'll look at what the story tells us about injustice in America. If you really believed in tough on crime, then you wouldn't make it easy to crawl into medicine cabinets and kill our women. Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, early and ad-free with a 48-hour plus subscription on Apple Podcasts. Before they turned the machine off on my mother. God, I wish you could be here with me. I told her that I loved her very much.

And that we were going to get justice. As Joe Ahrens mourned the loss of his mother, Marlene, investigators continued looking for additional evidence tying Sheila Keene to Marlene Warren's murder. You talk about this case to anyone, and the first place people go is, yeah, it's the mistress. So investigators focused on Sheila Keene. And soon, a big break, when detectives located this abandoned white Chrysler LeBaron, matching the description witnesses gave of the getaway car. What was found inside that Chrysler LeBaron? There was synthetic fibers, similar type fibers to a clown wig. They were orange, the same color as the wig Joe Aaron says the assailant was wearing.

Also inside the car, they found a human hair. It was brown, like Sheila Keen's. Sheriff's detectives executed a search warrant at the home of Sheila Keen. Inside Sheila Keen's closet, detectives say they recovered orange fibers that a forensic examination later concluded were similar to the ones found in the Chrysler LeBaron. And another breakthrough was made when Sheila's hair from her apartment was compared to the one recovered from the getaway car. That was scientifically, microscopically examined and found to be consistent.

Consistent with Sheila's hair, but DNA technology was still in its infancy in 1990, and scientists were unable to make a definitive connection. There were other challenges for investigators. The gun used to kill Marlene and the actual costume the killer clown wore were never found. And remember, Joe thought the attacker was a six-foot-tall man. Sheila didn't fit either of those descriptions. We're talking about an event that took seconds. Glances of this clown was a second or two. Also, McRoberts says any eyewitness would have a hard time describing someone in a baggy clown costume, makeup, and a wig.

It's basically a clown is a clown. And there was Sheila's alleged affair with Mike Warren. Those fiber and hair results, and those sales clerks at the costume and grocery stores whose description of the customer purchasing the clown outfit, balloons, and flowers was consistent with Sheila. This sounds like the evidence is really building up. It's like you've got enough there to make an arrest. What happens? Well, there was certainly argument about that and opinions that differed at the time.

And then there's an indecision about, do I do it now or should we keep trying and get a little bit more? about do I do it now or should we keep trying and get a little bit more? As investigators looked for more evidence, they discovered that Mike Warren's business, Bargain Motors, was connected to the suspected getaway car. They learned an employee stole the car from a competitor several weeks before the murder. And that's how they got the Chrysler LeBaron. Sheriff's detectives spent about five hours Thursday night

searching the offices of Bargain Motors. And as they investigated Mike Warren's business, they discovered widespread fraud, charging him with racketeering, insurance fraud, and odometer tampering. He ultimately was convicted on 43 counts of fraud and sent to prison. It was for fraud, and so, you know, you just can't extrapolate one to the next. I mean, there's no evidence that he's a murderer. We do have our suspicions, though. He was not charged with any crime in connection with Marlene's murder. And Warren felt he was a victim in this case.

Sentiments he shared in a radio interview before he went to prison. They wanted to put me out of business. Warren speculated that Marlene might actually have been the victim of an angry tenant or car buyer. I really can't think of a reason why other than the fact of the type of businesses that we're in as far as them landlords and crossing a few people by repossessing their car. But law enforcement did not think Marlene Warren's murder was the work of a disgruntled tenant or customer. And as the years passed, the case grew cold. And as for Sheila Keene, she seemed to disappear. Nobody ever brought her name up again. You know, for many years, I was suffering in despair.

After Mike Warren went to prison, Joe says he and his stepfather became estranged. And as he continued to grieve the loss of his mother, he was consumed by her case going unsolved. And give me a sense of what problems you fell into after your mother's murder. Ah, wow. Where do we start? Alcoholism, drugs, I mean, you name it. It was especially painful, says Joe, on each passing anniversary of the shooting. I would blow up that day and go get drunk, you know, and just go to her grave site. It was sad. Would you go out to her grave to talk to her? I did, a lot, to try to find answers, you know, but I was so confused,

I was getting nothing. I was just lost. I miss you. I wish you could help me through these hard times. Joe eventually emerged from the fog of drugs and despair. With that behind him, With that behind him, he became increasingly certain of who murdered his mother. I concluded that Sheila was the one that did it. She probably never thought in a million years she'd be held accountable for her crimes. She thought she got away with it. What do you make of the evidence against Sheila Keene? Chat now on Facebook and X. These are paintings that Marlene had painted when she was about 14 years old.

I kind of grin because I can almost see her doing this. Shirley Twing and her daughter Marlene shared a fascination with clowns. And over here. In Shirley's home, she even kept a room full of clown art and figurines. This one says to me, things will get better. The sad, sometimes unsettling images brought comfort to Shirley, despite the fact that a clown

had so brutally ended her daughter's life. I don't hate clowns. I just hate one. Although the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office hadn't given up on solving Marlene's murder, 27 long years had passed without an arrest. Then, by 2017, a cold case unit made a breakthrough. State Attorney Dave Ehrenberg finally had new, important evidence. The hairs that were found in the LeBaron were able to be

traced to Sheila Keene through DNA technology. With that new DNA match, detectives believed they could now definitively connect Sheila to the alleged getaway car and to Marlene Warren's murder. And when sheriffs found suspect Sheila Keene, they were blown away to learn whom she had married. Sheila Keene, they were blown away to learn whom she had married. After Michael Warren got out of prison, he reconnected with Sheila Keene. Here's someone whose wife had been murdered, and he just married the chief suspect. What did that tell you?

When you combine the fact that the two of them were in an affair at the time of the murder, and then later they got married. It did seem like mission accomplished. That marriage was in 2002. The Warrens, now middle-aged, settled into a new life in Tennessee, running this burger joint called Purple Cow. She took Mike's last name, but in an interesting twist, Assistant State Attorney Aletha McRoberts says she changed her first name. Sheila Keene Warren introduced herself to their friends in that life that her name was Debbie. She had dyed her hair blonde, changed her name, and was living a full life. We would have dinners. They were wonderful cooks. The Warrens befriended Brooke Blevins. This is Mike Warren's house. A neighbor at a weekend property the couple purchased in the

Virginia mountains. When we spoke to Brooke in 2018, she said she knew Mike's wife as Debbie and was told it was a childhood nickname. Her dad nicknamed her that when she was small. I never called her Sheila. I always called her Debbie. Former Purple Cow employees Ashley Sexton and Cynthia Swofford say they knew Debbie as a tough boss. I mean, she was awful aggressive, man. And even heard an alarming rumor about her past. The rumor around Purple Cow when we worked there was Debbie killed Mike's ex-wife.

I thought that was blowing off steam. I was like, okay, whatever. But the rumors said it more than once, even to where we knew she dressed up like a clown. According to an employee, Sheila had appeared in clown makeup at the restaurant one year during Halloween. By the fall of 2017, the Warrens had sold the business and retired full-time to the house in Virginia. Meanwhile, State Attorney Ehrenberg felt the case against Sheila had only gotten stronger. When you combine the fact that they got married and seemingly lived happily ever after

with the new DNA breakthrough, we're able to get enough evidence to make an arrest. On September 26, 2017, 27 years after Marlene's murder, authorities arrested Sheila Keene Warren driving on a road near their home. She was charged with first-degree murder. Sheila did not murder Marlene Warren. Greg Rosenfeld, Sheila Keene Warren's defense attorney, says Sheila was not the shooter. Everything was so methodical. This person walking up to the house, committing this shooting, and then slowly walking away. We're dealing with someone who had experience in committing a hit or a murder.

That's not Sheila. That is not sheila shortly after sheila's arrest dave aaronberg addressed reporters today we filed notice and intend to seek the death penalty in this case can you say whether michael warren is a suspect i can't say that aletha mcrots says there was something Sheila asked as she was being taken into custody that caught prosecutors' attention. One of the first things she said is, well, are you going to arrest him too, pointing to her husband. Which suggests what to you?

That she knew exactly what she was being arrested for and they had done it together. Joe had come to the same conclusion, arrested for and they had done it together. Joe had come to the same conclusion that his stepfather and Sheila were both involved in his mother's murder. Would you like to see Mike Warren charged in the murder of your mother? Yes, I would. With Sheila in custody, we wanted to speak with Mike Warren. We're going to go to his front door, give it a knock, see if he'll answer a couple of questions. Hot shot Australian attorney Nicola Gaba was born into legal royalty.

Her specialty? Representing some of the city's most infamous gangland criminals. However, while Nicola held the underworld's darkest secrets, the most dangerous secret was her own. She's going to all the major groups within Melbourne's underworld, and she's informing on them all. I'm Marcia Clark, host of the new podcast, Informants Lawyer X. In my long career in criminal justice as a prosecutor and defense attorney, I've seen some crazy cases, and this one belongs right at the top of the list. She was addicted to the game she had created. She just didn't know how to stop.

Now, through dramatic interviews and access, I'll reveal the truth behind one of the world's most shocking legal scandals. Listen to Informant's Lawyer X exclusively on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And listen to more Exhibit C true crime shows early and ad-free right now. Have you ever wondered who created that bottle of sriracha that's living in your fridge? Or why nearly every house in America has at least one game of Monopoly? Introducing The Best Idea Yet, a brand new podcast from Wondery and T-Boy

about the surprising origin stories of the products you're obsessed with and the bold risk-takers who brought them to life. Like, did you know that Super Mario, the best-selling video game character of all time, only exists because Nintendo couldn't get the rights to Popeye? Or Jack, that the idea for the McDonald's Happy Meal first came from a mom in Guatemala? From Pez dispensers to Levi's 501s to Air Jordans, discover the surprising stories of the most viral products. Plus, we guarantee that after listening, you're going to dominate your next dinner party. So follow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery app

or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to The Best Idea Yet early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. It's just the best idea yet. After the arrest of Sheila Keene Warren in 2017, 48 Hours wanted to talk to Mike Warren about what he knew about his wife's murder. Here he comes. Hey, Mike. I'm Peter Van Sant with CBS News. He wouldn't open the door, but we spoke through it for several minutes,

competing with a barking dog. Did you have anything to do with planning the murder of your wife, Marlene? You did not. the murder of your wife, Marlene? You did not. You did not. Absolutely not. He was adamant that neither he nor Sheila Keene-Warren had anything to do with Marlene's murder.

Did you suggest to Sheila that she dress in a clown outfit? You're saying, Sheila, Sheila, who says Sheila did that? I don't think Sheila did anything. If I thought Sheila had something to do with it, I wouldn't have done it. Do you believe, based on the evidence over the years, that Michael Warren knew what was going to happen that day? I don't believe there's any direct evidence of that. There just wasn't enough evidence to prosecute Michael Warren.

But if evidence emerges, we'll pursue it. As they prepared for trial, despite never recovering the clown disguise or the gun, prosecutors were confident they could prove that Sheila Keene Warren committed the murder so that she could marry Mike Warren. Sheila Keene Warren had the means, the motive, and the opportunity to do this. We will never know who killed Marlene Warren because the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office and the state attorney's office did such a poor job investigating this case. I can tell you without question that it was not Sheila Keene. Sheila Keene Warren's defense attorney,

Greg Rosenfeld, says she's innocent, a victim of the state attorney's reckless desire to close a notorious cold case. And they said, you know what, this is our suspect. We're going to stick with it, even though the pieces of the puzzle didn't fit the puzzle. Rosenfeld says there were other potential suspects authorities ignored, including an inmate who supposedly bragged in prison about murdering Marlene. But prosecutors say he was investigated and cleared. It's not surprising that they would try to point the finger at law enforcement for not looking at every potential suspect. But if you look at the evidence,

it pointed to one person all along, Sheila Keene Warren. The state was confident Sheila Keene Warren was responsible for Marlene's murder. But Rosenfeld plans to poke holes in its case at trial. How do you overcome DNA evidence? The state attorney's office should be embarrassed about the DNA evidence in this case. Rosenfeld agrees the hair prosecutors say was found in the LeBaron getaway car could be from Sheila Keene Warren, but he says it could also be from about four percent of the U.S. Caucasian population.

They couldn't exclude Marlene Warren from that hair sample. So that was their groundbreaking DNA evidence. And if you concede that the hair is from Sheila Keene Warren, says Rosenfeld, there's an innocent explanation as to how it got there. The LeBaron was on the lot at Bargain Motors, where she worked. Sheila may have been in the car, used in this murder. That's it. The defense attorney says, well, of course her hair might be in there. It doesn't suggest that she was driving at the time of the murder. What do you say to that?

It's just one more link. Once you put that one thing with the totality of all the circumstances, then it starts to become overwhelming. Rosenfeld says the orange fibers found in the car, which prosecutors say could be from the clown costume, should also be excluded. So the fibers found in the car were synthetic fibers. That same type of fiber can be used in thousands of different products. So the state likes to present it as clown wig fibers, but that's factually incorrect. Even more troubling than the evidence gathered, says Rosenfeld, is how it was handled over the decades. What are we looking at here? These are evidence bags at the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Evidence Unit, torn open. Just gaping holes in these evidence bags. If there's gaping holes,

what can that do to the evidence inside? That's precisely how you have cross contamination. Now look at, if I can zoom in here. This bag contains a clown wig investigators purchased similar to the one they believed was worn by the assailant. They used it to compare to the fibers found in the LeBaron and in Sheila's home. This is an open evidence bag with the wig sticking out. This is horrifying. And so your bottom line is is that this evidence is unreliable now. Without question. Can it not be argued that some of the evidence in this case was indeed bungled?

You know, it's, you're asking a lot of law enforcement to be perfect from 1990 to today. Some of the evidence was kept in an evidence storage area that wasn't ideal. Any mistake, any small opening will be exploited by defense lawyers. Prosecutors were still certain they had the right person for Marlene's murder. But in February 2020, after a re-evaluation of Sheila Keene Warren's case,

they announced they would no longer seek the death penalty. Were you told by the prosecutor's office that there was always a chance in a jury trial that she might even be acquitted? Yes. See more evidence from the case at 48hours.com. In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru and New Zealand, lies a tiny volcanic island. It's a little-known British territory called Pitcairn, and it harboured a deep, dark scandal. There wouldn't be a girl on Pitcairn once they reach the age of 10 that would still have heard it.

It just happens to all of them. 10 that would still have heard it. It just happens to all of us. I'm journalist Luke Jones and for almost two years I've been investigating a shocking story that has left deep scars on generations of women and girls from Pitcairn. When there's nobody watching, nobody going to report it, people will get away with what they can get away with. In the Pitcairn trials I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely Pacific island to the brink of extinction. Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

When you think of your mom today, what do you think about? What images come to mind? Well, she was robbed and so was I. It is said the wheels of justice turn slowly. And when it came to the murder of Marlene Warren, that grind often seemed to come to a halt. Warren, that grind often seemed to come to a halt. After the 27-year wait for an arrest, Sheila King Warren's trial kept getting delayed. By 2022, she had spent five years in jail. Her trial postponed six times. And then we had COVID. So it just was one thing after another. Decades of accumulation of files and photographs and mountains of evidence and documents.

Defense attorney Greg Rosenfeld was also trying to work his way through all that evidence. And he says adding to the delays was a lack of cooperation from the state. Evidence kept, I'd say, disappearing. Rosenfeld says one crucial piece of evidence for the defense that disappeared for years was what investigators called the clown sighting file. These were all the tips about people who alleged to have seen clowns in the area. That opens up for you new avenues as to possible suspects, right? Absolutely. Absolutely. I think the sheriff's office and the state attorney's office just decided they didn't want to look for this evidence.

But then suddenly, in October of 2022, as another trial date neared, the file was found. It was located not with the Sheila Keene clown murder boxes. It was actually a file out of place. They find this clown setting file and there's 35 tips. We begin to investigate them. Now we're 32 years after the murder. You know, we couldn't track down these witnesses. I've seen it, and it's silly things. Clearly, clown sightings that had nothing to do with Marlene Warren. And it wasn't being intentionally hidden from the defense? Absolutely not. We were meticulous about making sure they had everything.

Though as the trial neared, the decades of delays were causing problems for the prosecution as well. Every day that went by, it was a tougher case. Witnesses die, memories fade, evidence spoils. One of our key witnesses passed away. He was the one who compiled the evidence, and without him, we lost a chain of custody for some crucial evidence relating to the fibers. If I can zoom in here, this is an open evidence bag.

Evidence the defense already claimed had been poorly stored and mishandled. Contaminated, inadmissible, unreliable. It just goes to show you how poor of an investigation that was done. They were going to be able to argue that because of the opening of the bags, that the evidence was spoiled, and because of the break in the chain of custody, because of the death of our witnesses, it shouldn't even be admitted. So you had some real potential for reasonable doubt. There was beyond reasonable doubt. On April 25th, 2023, two weeks before Sheila Keene Warren's trial for the murder of Marlene Warren was to begin, there was yet another surprise in a case that had been filled with the unexpected. A plea deal was reached.

Ms. Keene Warren, the defendant herein, will agree to withdraw her plea of not guilty and her plea of guilty. Sheila Keene Warren, whose case at one time included the death penalty, then life in prison, would now plead guilty to second-degree murder and be sentenced to 12 years in prison. Under sentencing guidelines for time served, she is expected to be released in 2025, perhaps sooner. We had to make a judgment based on what we had. Because the fear is what, if you take this to trial? The worst thing that could happen would be that Sheila Keene Warren would be found not guilty. Not because she was innocent, but because after 33 years, we could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she was the one who did it.

we could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she was the one who did it. But Sheila Keene Warren did have to publicly pay a price for this plea deal, admitting in open court that she, in fact, did murder Marlene Warren. If this case were to proceed to jury trial, the state would present evidence that on or about May the 26th of 1990, the defendant was responsible for the death of Marlene Warren. Keen Warren, did you hear all that? Yes, sir. And do you agree with that factual basis? Yes.

Despite admitting her crime, Sheila Keen Warren, through her attorney, still maintains she is innocent. Sheila did not commit this murder. It was very difficult for her to admit to committing a crime that she did not commit this murder. It was very difficult for her to admit to committing a crime that she did not commit. But as a matter of law, she has admitted to committing the murder by saying yes. Correct, for the purpose of- So she is a convicted murderer.

Insofar as the law goes, sure. But when you're told you can be home or, you know, you can play Russian roulette and risk spending the rest of your life in prison, it's kind of a no-brainer. The defense cannot have it both ways. So she will be a murderer for every day for the rest of her life. Even when she gets out of prison one day, she'll still be a convicted murderer. When she does get out of prison, she will reunite with her husband, Michael Warren. Sheila's going home to Tennessee. She's going back to her life. Michael Warren, in a statement provided to 48 Hours regarding the plea, said,

My wife did not commit this crime. It was difficult to see her plea to a crime she did not commit. But it wasn't worth the gamble when she was offered a deal that will have her home in 16 to 18 months. With this deal, there is a chance that Sheila might get out of prison within the next year or two. Are you all right with that? Well, I'm not all right with it, but I have to be. Still, Joe Ahrens approved the plea deal, feeling it wasn't worth the gamble of going to trial.

That was very emotional because that was the end of something so huge that grew for 33 years of my life. Finally, it's over. Finally. You know, it was... The demons that once occupied Joe's mind are gone, replaced with loving memories of how his mother Marlene lived rather than how that life was so violently taken.

What would you say to your mother if you could speak to her today? Wow, what can I say to my mother? Thank you for showing me how to love and be peaceful, and thank you for being in my life. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. Marlene Warren's mother, Shirley Twing, died in March 2023

before Sheila Keene Warren pleaded guilty to Marlene's murder. If you like this podcast, you can listen ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a quick survey at wondery.com slash survey. Paramount Podcasts