48 Hours - The Clown Did It - Encore

Episode Date: January 13, 2019

Two witnesses who watched a woman gunned down in her Florida home by someone in a clown costume speak out on network television. "48 Hours" correspondent Peter Van Sant investigates.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. My house is right here. That's where I used to live. This place right here? Yes.

It was here at her Wellington Aero Club home this morning. It brings back a lot of memories. The bizarre shooting of 40-year-old Marlene. I didn't ever think I was going to ever come back to this house. A person disguised as a clown walked up to Marlene Warren's Aero Club home in Wellington. These are paintings that Marlene had painted when she was about 14 years old. I walk by, I look at them every day, and I kind of grin, because I can almost see her doing this. It gives me a good feeling.

Investigators are trying to find the person who dressed up as a clown. I don't hate clowns. I just hate one. the person who dressed up as a clown. I don't hate clowns. I just hate one. This room I call the clown room over here. So it looks very sad to me. And I think of Marlene that he's sad about. This gentleman over here with the red hair,

he says to me that you need to hang in there, things will get better. And this one is a determination of it all working out and everything will be okay. They always stay there and remind me of what has happened. What has happened? I don't hate you. I just hate you. I just hate you. I just hate you. I just hate you. What do you remember of May 26, 1990? I remember that being one of the most terrible days of my life.

You're in the house with your mom, right? Yes. What's going on? Well, typical morning. She and I were cooking breakfast that morning, joking, carrying on. Did Marlene have any enemies in this world? None.

Everybody loved her. She was my everything. My mom, my friend, she was my everything. I was in the living room, probably right where that lamp is. I sat down to eat. There was a balloon and some clown coming at the door. Look at that clown.

She was going to that door. She was excited. When your mother opened the door, did she say something? Oh, how pretty. At first, we thought maybe it was a balloon pop. But when we saw her fall, we knew something was definitely seriously wrong. We had no clue what was going on.

It was like the whole world was in slow motion. Did the clown say anything? Nothing. Not a word. The clown slowly walked back to the car like no care in the world. keeps running through my mind, why? 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 reached the age of 10 that would still a virgin. 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+. Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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. It's not one day that goes by that I do not think about her. One way or another. Joe Ahrens was 21 years old on that May morning in 1990 when his beloved mother and best friend, Marlene Warren, was shot in the face at her front door. Gunshot. Yeah. And down she goes. Yes.

Your mother is lying where? On the floor right there. It was just a horrible feeling. Joe was living at home and his friends were over that morning, including Jeannie Pratt, who helped tend to Marlene. A neighbor called 911. I was right next to her, and I rolled her to her side. There was a big hole in her cheek and upper lip. Joe, hobbled by a broken leg and cast, followed the clown outside. The shooter's car, a white Chrysler LeBaron,

was parked in the driveway. The car was right here the door was open the car was running i tried to get the clown to turn around i called him every word in the book the shooter looked back joe saw white and red clown makeup a a fuzzy orange wig, and the eyes of the person who had just shot his mother. Just really dark brown eyes. The shooter calmly got in the car and drove away. Didn't even squeal a tire. Just drove off like nothing happened.

Joe made his way to his own car. Joey was running around hurting himself, and I'm like, you're not going anywhere by yourself. Jeannie Pratt jumped in the car with him. I just punched it to try to catch up to that car. up to that car. I never could, never could catch it. It was like poof, just disappeared. So then I turned back and came back here. The detectives were here and the ambulance were working on my mom. Warren was rushed here to Palms West Hospital

where she was admitted in extremely critical condition. With a bullet lodged in her spinal cord, 40-year-old Marlene Warren was put on life support. Joe was questioned by police and then went straight to his mother. First thing I did is grab her hand, you know, and try to talk to her, you know, just try to get some kind of response, you know, and there was nothing. Meanwhile, at her home, investigators gather evidence searching for clues. Investigators had very little to work with initially. Daphne Durette of the Palm Beach Post.

They knew that the shooter sped off in a white Chrysler LeBaron. What they also knew was that the shooter had brown eyes. Because of all the makeup and the costume, Joe couldn't even be sure if the shooter was a man or a woman, which left police with a problem. There's a thing called a BOLO. What is a BOLO? A BOLO is an acronym for be on the lookout. And in this case, the BOLO was for someone dressed in a clown costume. It was not a lot to go on, but detectives got an early break.

MARLENE HUTCHINSON, The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Three hours after the shooting, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office gets an anonymous phone call from a female caller the caller told police to look at marlene's husband 38 year old mike warren who'd been married to marlene since joe was a toddler when we were younger he was great marlene had been married before as a teenager, had Joe and his brother Johnny, and after that marriage fell apart, at 20, she married Mike. He was my father for 20-some years, the only dad I knew. In the late 80s, the Warrens were living here at the Arrow Club, an exclusive subdivision in Wellington, Florida, where

every home backs onto a private runway. You were 21 years old. You must have felt like you were in paradise here, didn't you? Oh, I did. I loved it. I miss it. Mike and Marlene owned several businesses, many in Marlene's name. Marlene managed their rental properties.

Mike owned a few racehorses and was a used car salesman, selling and renting cars. We owned a car business, Bargain Motors. The family was prospering. But a year and a half before the shooting, Joe's brother, Johnny, was killed in a car accident. He was 22 years old. It was tragic, and it hit her hard. Marlene's mother, Shirley Twain. That was her first baby, you know. She's the one that told me, and she just grabbed me and let me go, you know she's the one that told me and she just grabbed me and would let me go you know

joe says after his brother died everything changed between marlene and mike he wasn't around as much as i guess you would say he should have been the actions spoke louder than say he should have been. The actions spoke louder than words. He wasn't around. MIKE GERSON, Former President of the United States of America, Right. Or a dad for me. And I think my mom was picking up on that. She told me two weeks before that we were going to move. JOHN YANG, It was around this time that Marlene confided in her mother, living in Las Vegas. What she said was shocking.

She says, if anything happens to me, Mike did it. So there must have been one heck of a fight. What did that tell you? I told her she could come home. But that didn't happen. When Shirley heard her daughter had been shot, she instantly thought of Mike. Right away, I figured it was him.

I figured Mike had something to do with it, that's for damn sure. But at 10.51 that morning when Marlene was shot, Mike Warren was miles away on the interstate, driving south with a car full of witnesses. Mike Warren was with a couple of his buddies on his way to the Calder racetrack. That meant Mike couldn't possibly be the shooter. He was nowhere near the home at the time.

If Mike Warren wasn't the shooter, police had actually gotten a second name from that anonymous tipster. The caller was clear. Look at Sheila Kane. 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 Marsha 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.

As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman. It was about this supernatural killer who would attack his victims if they said his name five times into a bathroom mirror. 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. Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, wherever you get your podcasts. I just wanted to see my mom. I just stayed in that room for hours at a time.

As his mother clung to life, Joe remained by her side at the hospital. What were you saying to her? I love you, please don't leave. Mom, I just kept saying mom. Unable to speak to Marlene, police focused on their few leads. The clown disguise, the balloons, and the flower arrangement.

They immediately canvassed flower shops, supermarkets, and costume shops in the area. I got a call from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Department, and it was a detective. Hours after the shooting, detectives reached Barbara Castricone, and later, Deborah Offord, who at the time worked at a local costume store. Deborah remembers a customer coming in two nights earlier, a woman who seemed to be in a hurry. I said, can you come back tomorrow? And she said, no, I need something right now.

She wanted to see the clown costume. Deborah told police the customer bought a clown costume, some makeup, an orange wig, and a red clown nose. She also gave them a description. Long, thick, straight, like chocolate color hair. Big brown eyes. Brown eyes, just like Joe remembered. Detectives showed her a photo lineup, and she tentatively identified the woman with

the brown eyes as the same person named in that anonymous tip. Sheila Keene. Sheila Keene. Who is she? Sheila Keene at the time worked for Mike Warren. Long, long, beautiful brown hair, brown eyes. Della Ward used to work with Sheila Keene at Bargain Motors. She remembers Sheila as a 26-year-old young mother, on her own after separating from her husband. Sheila Keen had a reputation for being fearless. Sheila repossessed cars for the business. She was a repo woman.

She was a repo woman. To do repos, you have to have some kind of guns. Della remembers that Sheila carried a gun, a.38, some said. She told me, you know, I keep a gun for my protection, because people are crazy what they do. They'll come out with shotguns and shoot at you, not to repel their car. Police would soon learn about a possible motive. There were rumors that Mike Warren and Sheila Keene were more than just coworkers.

There were rumors that the two of them were lovers. There's no doubt about it. They were definitely seeing one another. Mike Warren agreed to be questioned by detectives and denied having any extramarital affairs with a Sheila Keene. At the same time, other investigators continued trying to find where the flower arrangement and balloons were purchased. One said, you're the greatest, and the other one had Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs on it. Right, so they had these two very distinctive balloons.

Police learned that those balloons were distinctive enough that they could link them back to a specific supermarket. The balloons and flowers left at the doorstep of the murder scene were purchased at this Publix. The buyer described as a white female with dark brown hair. Dark brown hair, like Sheila's. Police discovered that purchase was made at 9.22 a.m., an hour and a half before the shooting,

and the store's location caught their attention. Sheila Keene's home is about a little more than half a mile over here. One day after the shooting, detectives caught up with Sheila Keene. She gave them an alibi. She said that at the time of the attack, she was out doing her job, looking for vehicles for repossession. They asked her, which cars were you looking to repossess? She says she doesn't remember. Like Mike, Sheila denied the two were having an affair, telling investigators they were just good friends.

Her neighbors told a different story. They say that they saw Mike Warren coming in and out of the house so often that they thought that he was her husband. All hours of the day and night. All hours of the day and night on multiple occasions. A security guard says he did not know Warren, but that he was allowed in by order of Sheila Keene. He can come in without us calling or notifying her. But rumors of an affair were not enough for an arrest.

And even though he was under investigation, Mike kept vigil with Joe at his wife's bedside. Did it seem impossible that Mike could be involved? To me, yes, you know, because it was my dad. Just couldn't even think that. By now, Marlene's mother, Shirley, had arrived. And two days after the shooting, the difficult decision was made to remove Marlene from life support. I hugged onto Joe. He hugged onto my hand.

And I said, pull this, pull it, let it go, let her go. And poor Joe. His hand was so damn cold. And I know it was killing him. Within a minute or so, as soon as the machine was gone, she was gone. With Marlene Warren's death, police now had to solve a murder. And the next day recovered another important piece of evidence, a bullet removed from Marlene's body consistent with a 38 or 357 caliber gun. And this becomes another piece of circumstantial evidence that appears to tie Sheila Keene

to this shooting. So at this point in the investigation, let's imagine there's a spotlight. It's on Sheila Keene right now, right? Absolutely on Sheila Keene. Police had a tentative ID at the costume shop, a description at the Publix grocery store that was consistent with Sheila Keene, and a bullet.

All intriguing circumstantial evidence, but not decisive in connecting Sheila or anyone else to Marlene's murder. Detectives have been checking all possible leads, but have come up empty until now. Then, four days after the shooting, police got a huge break. They found a white Chrysler LeBaron. Maybe this was the getaway car. They find it in the parking lot of a Winn-Dixie supermarket. That supermarket is eight miles from the crime scene and nine miles from Sheila Keen's apartment. Inside the car, police found two important clues.

They find this orange synthetic hair. Like the fibers from a clown wig. They also find strands of brown human hair. Brown hair, like Sheila Keen's. Within hours, police had a warrant to search her apartment. The investigation is turned to the woman who lives here at the Pine Ridge Apartments off Haverhill Road. They didn't find a gun.

Sheila's estranged husband told police they owned a.38 revolver, but that Sheila told him she'd misplaced it about a month before the murder. What police did find in the apartment was hair from the bathroom trash and a stunner, more orange fibers on clothing inside Sheila's home. Detectives aren't saying if Keene is actually a suspect in the murder. What they will say is that they are waiting for test results on samples of hair and fibers taken from search warrants. A police criminologist compared the samples of human hair

and the orange fibers from the car and the apartment, and in both cases concluded the samples were similar. So this sounds like something, boy, you could put this in front of a jury and potentially get a conviction. You could or maybe you couldn't. Similar is not the same. Investigators reportedly ran DNA on the hair and fibers, but DNA testing was still very new. The results were apparently inconclusive. Prosecutors decided it was not enough to make an arrest,

but investigators were not done digging. They ran a check on the LeBaron and learned it had been stolen. The Chrysler LeBaron is another maze of bizarre facts. Take a look at this ad for Payless Car Rental, a competitor of Mike Warren's. Now take a look at Mike Warren's ad and notice the giant word Payless.

Payless accused Mike of intentionally trying to confuse customers with his ad. In at least one case, it seems to have worked. About a month before Marlene's murder, a couple rented the LeBaron from Payless, but mistakenly called Bargain, Mike's company, to return it. Police say someone at Bargain told the couple to leave the car on the street with the keys inside. Place the keys in the visor and we'll take it from there. It was stolen the same night. After learning of all this, investigators went into Warren's business with a search warrant.

Sheriff's detectives spent about five hours Thursday night searching the offices of Bargain Motors at 14th and Dixie in downtown West Palm Beach. But investigators could not prove Mike Warren stole that LeBaron, nor could they connect him to his wife's murder. But they did uncover evidence of widespread fraud. Mike Warren was arrested and ultimately charged with multiple counts of racketeering, grand theft auto, insurance fraud, and odometer tampering. They wanted to get him so bad that he was the one, but he had an alibi. and odometer tampering. DELLA WARD, One of Mike's bookkeepers, Della Ward didn't like the questions police

were asking. DELLA WARD, They wanted me to badmouth Michael. How can I badmouth a man that was good to me? He's not this cold-hearted killer that wanted to knock off his wife, no. The fraud case was complex. As prosecutors prepared

for that trial, the murder investigation continued. And Mike and Joe battled over Marlene's estate, reported to be worth well over a million dollars. but emotionally devastated and just 22 joe was no match for his used car salesman's stepfather he says he was left with next to nothing two years after marlene's murder Mike stood trial for his business schemes.

I was called a hostile witness. In the end, Mike Warren was convicted of fraud and served nearly four years in prison. Police never closed Marlene's case, but as the years passed, there was no sign of any new evidence. years past there was no sign of any new evidence they never found the gun they never found the clown suit or the wig and as for sheila keen she wasn't charged in this case and eventually moved away they investigated her they couldn't come up with nothing, okay? Sheila packed up with her son and left the area. Nobody ever brought her name up again. The killer clown case went cold. But a few years later, Della heard some very surprising news.

I just found out that Sheila and Michael got married. And I guess the look on my face was like, wow. In 2002, 12 years after Marlene's murder, Mike Warren and Sheila Keene, who once denied they were romantically involved, got married amid the glittering neon lights of Las Vegas. They had settled here in secluded Kingsport, Tennessee, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Their friends and neighbors described them as this couple

that worked six days a week and that they were always on the go. The newlyweds had joined the ranks of local business owners, running a burger joint called The Purple Cow. It was famous for a giant hamburger named after Mike. Mike's Intimidator. Big old burger. It's like that big. Ashley Sexton and Cynthia Swafford

worked at The Purple Cow for about two years. She was the cook. I was the handout window. They had a front row seat watching their bosses, Sheila and Mike Warren. They didn't say much about their life in Florida. We did know Mike went to jail. Yeah. This is Sheila and Mike Warren's house. Brooke Blevins met Mike and Sheila when they bought a weekend property down the street from hers,

just across the Tennessee border in Virginia. This is Heron Point at South Holston Lake, the best place to live ever. We have a lot of fun here. Everybody's very friendly, knows each other, concerned about each other. And Sheila and Mike, they fit right in? Yes, they do. Tell me about the Sheila Warren that you know. The Sheila Warren that I know is very giving.

She's just, I know I could depend on her. She's just very, very sweet. When she married Mike, Sheila changed I could depend on her. She's just very, very sweet. When she married Mike, Sheila changed her last name to Warren, her first name to Debbie, and she changed the color of her hair. We called her Debbie or Deb. And when she was introduced to people by Mike, would he say, this is my wife, Debbie? He'd say, this is Deb. This is Deb. Yeah, this is my wife, Deb. Brooke'd say, this is Deb. This is Deb. Yeah, this is my wife, Deb.

Brooke says Mike told her it was a childhood nickname. Her dad nicknamed her that when she was small. But Della Ward never heard of it. A nickname that she had? No. The fact that they didn't talk about their past, are you wondering if you really know them? talk about their past. Are you wondering if you really know them? I'm a pretty good judge of character by looking at people, how they act today. That told me all I needed to know. I didn't ask them about their past. They didn't ask me about my past.

You can be their neighbors all you want to you see what you see you know unless you work for them and been back there eight twelve hours a day dealing with them you don't know who they really are cynthia and ashley also knew sheila by her new name i never called her sheila i always called her debbie too that's what we've never whatever they knew her by, the women say Sheila and Mike were as tough as a couple of overcooked burgers to work for. You messed something up. You knew it. I'm telling you that. You knew you messed it up because he was going to tell you. So was she. I mean, she was awful aggressive, mean, just like Mike. And there were rumors about Sheila slash Debbie's past.

The rumor around Purple Cow when we worked there was Debbie killed Mike's ex-wife. The rumors said it more than once, even to where we knew she dressed up like a clown. To get the outfit, to put all the makeup on, to get the car, put all the makeup on to get the car to get the balloons to get the bouquet this is malice of forethought this is why they call it first degree murder while mike and sheila were trying to live happily ever after in the mountains palm beach county sheriff rick bradshaw had not forgotten marlene's case. The reason they're called cold cases is because there wasn't enough information there to solve them at the time, so you got to dig. This is the homicide floor. The last couple vaults, they belong to the cold case detectives.

In 2013, Bradshaw's cold case squad decided to open up their old file vault and take another look. You just have to be willing to continue to fight and fight and fight for these victims. Lead detective Paige McCann and her team started calling up old witnesses, including Jeannie. The Pandora's box was reopened when someone called me. Deborah from the costume shop. He let me know that they were reviewing this case. JOHN YANG, And even Mike's old friend, Della. DELLA, And they went through the same questions they did years ago.

JOHN YANG, Who remained unimpressed. DELLA, Now I'm saying, why are you reopening the case if these are the same questions? JOHN YANG, But police weren't just asking the same questions we did have our lab look at some items there were new advancements in dna that detectives were hoping could help close the case we reviewed the entire case and then we determined that additional items need to be tested in the winter of 2016 as police continued working mike and sheila sold the purple cow and retired moving full time to the lake we would have surprise birthday parties for each other and dinners it was real sweet and then one day...

I was in shock to know that the story was actually true. I was in shock to know that the story was actually true. I was in shock to know that the story was actually true. I was in shock to know that the story was actually true. I was in shock to know that the story was actually true. I was in shock to know that the story was actually true. I was in shock to know that the story was actually true. I was in shock to know that the story was actually true. I was in shock to know that the story was actually true. I was in shock to know that the story was actually true. I was in shock to know that the story was actually true. I was in shock to know that the story was actually true. I was in shock to know that the story was actually true. I was in shock to know that the story was actually true. I was in shock to know that the story was actually true. I was in shock to know that the story was actually true. I was in shock to know that the story was actually true. I was in shock to know that the story was actually true. I was in shock to know that the story was actually true. I was in shock to know that the story was actually true. I was in shock to know that the story was actually true. I was in shock to know that the story was actually true. I was in shock to know that the story was actually true. I was in shock to know that the story was actually true. I was in shock to know that the story was actually true. I was in shock to know that the story was actually true. I was in shock to know that the story was actually true. I was in shock to know that the story was actually true. I was in shock to know that the story was actually true. I was here for a while. I was numb for a long time. I just felt abandoned, you know. I was on my own. Since his mother's murder, Joe Ahrens was in and out of trouble, struggling with drugs and alcohol. Married and now divorced,

Joe is building a new life for himself in Iowa with his own construction company. We're just doing final details, cleaning, touch-ups. It's getting there. Skills he traces back to days helping his mom Marlene with their rental properties. I've seen her fix anything in-house. If she couldn't, she would hire somebody, and then she would tell me to watch them.

I learned a lot, a lot from that. But Joe is still haunted by his memories. The nighttime is the worst. The bad, bad stuff. Usually usually at night that is so creepy in 2016 while joe was trying to get on with his life, creepy clowns, evil clowns, and sinister clowns were suddenly everywhere. In the news, Clowns are reportedly terrorizing a town in South Carolina. On social media, many have been dismissed by law enforcement as pranks.

And the following year, on the big screen. I saw something. A clown. Yeah yeah i saw him too in 2017 27 years since marlene's murder new new DNA results on the old evidence finally changed a circumstantial case into one police now say is rock solid. But they wouldn't tell us exactly what that evidence is. Not yet. We have it, without a doubt. No doubt.

Not in my mind. Now they just had to track down their clown. Hoping to avoid a confrontation at the Warrens, Virginia home, local police set up a roadblock. We had set up fuses, fusees, flares, all the way down in this sharp curve just to slow traffic. Lieutenant Dewey Fulton of the Washington County Sheriff's Department. And you're one of the guys, officers, stopping the vehicle? Yes, sir, Peter.

The plan was to make it look like a routine checkpoint. They pulled right up, and where we're standing at right now is where the vehicle stopped. Mike Warren was driving. I went to the passenger side where Ms. Warren was, and I asked her if she would happen to have her ID also. She gave me a Tennessee driver's license with the name Sheila Warren, and at that time, I just reached in, opened her door, and said, Ma'am, we have a warrant for your arrest police had finally done it sheila keen warren the woman they believed to be marlene's killer was arrested our case action was like

oh my god i was shocked cynthia and ashley watched the video of Sheila in the squad car online. She didn't cry, no shock look. It was just like she had the face of like, I finally got caught. I was just like, I argued with a killer this whole entire time. It was all over Facebook and everybody was tagging me. Look, look, look, look. They got her. They got her.

And when you learned that news? It was like that cinder block pressing you down all these years. It's been lifted. I didn't know how to act. It was a good feeling and also a sad feeling, you know, because she's not here anymore. Very surprised. And a little bit good.

Vengeance. Excuse me. Sheila Warren was extradited the following week to Palm Beach County. Ma'am, you're charged with first-degree murder with a firearm. Where a judge denied her bail. She has hired a top defense attorney and is awaiting trial. The Sheila that I know wouldn't even have come to my mind that she could have done anything

that she's been accused of. You don't look at her now and wonder, could she be a killer? No, not really. If I did find out something horrible, she's still my friend. My love is unconditional. I love her no matter what. JOHN YANG, You guys have not stopped investigating this particular murder, is that right? MICHAEL WARREN, Yes, it's still an open investigation. JOHN YANG, And at the sheriff's office, the cold case team says its investigation is far from over. Is Michael Warren still a person of interest in this case? Yes.

You know, the investigation is still ongoing with Michael Warren, as well as anyone else who might have been involved. I feel he was 100 percent part of it. And the motive? Greed. He wanted out of a marriage. As his wife sits in a Palm Beach County jail, Mike Warren is still in Virginia, in their house by the lake. This is Heron Point, the subdivision where Mike Warren lives. We're going to go to his front door, give it a knock, see if he'll answer a couple of questions. PETER VAN SANT, CBS NEWS ANCHOR, Here he comes.

Hey, Mike. I'm Peter Van Sant with CBS News. Can I talk to you? WILLIAM BRANGHAM, He didn't want to open the door. Did you have anything to do with planning the murder of your wife, Marlene? You did not. Mike Warren ended up talking to us through that door for several minutes, denying any involvement in Marlene's murders. Did you suggest to Sheila that she dress in a clown outfit? You're saying Sheila, Sheila. Who says Sheila did that?

I thought Sheila had something to do with it. I thought Sheila had something to do with it. I wouldn't have done that. For his part, Joe Aaron says he's hopeful for the legal process that is now underway. But the scars of all he has suffered run deep. I just couldn't put it together for a long time. I finally got myself together and knew, well, what would she want me to do?

She would want me to carry on. She would want me to do the best I could. You know, just try to get happiness in my life. I love you. I miss you. I miss you. You will get justice one day. 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.