Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Mom blames mystery babysitter for kids' hot car death & new 'killer clown' evidence

Episode Date: April 17, 2018

An Arizona mom allegedly murdered her two young children by locking them in a car for over 14 hours and then blaming an unidentified babysitter for their deaths. Nancy Grace looks at the case against Brittany Velasquez with a panel of experts including DNA expert George Schiro, psychotherapist Lauren Howard, Atlanta juvenile judge Ashley Willcott, and reporter Larry Meagher. Reporter Chuck Roberts joins Nancy to update the case against a woman accused of dressing up as a clown to kill her lover's wife.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace on Sirius XM Triumph, Channel 132. How often do you go on errands with your children? How often do you leave them alone, strapped in car seats, while you go in to visit? For hours. That's what happened when a young mom, Brittany Velasquez, leaves her two-year-old son and ten-month-old daughter strapped in car seats. And where else? Arizona.

You know how hot it gets there? I don't know how even lizards live there. 110, 120 degrees. You know the rest. The children are dead. And is it Tot Mom Radio? Tot Mom all over again. Deja vu. She claims the babysitter did it. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. Brittany Velasquez, a young mom now suspected in counts of murder and the deaths of two children, a two-year-old little boy and a 10-month-old little girl. The children were found dead at nighttime on Monday night, dead in a car parked in the driveway of the family's home in Superior.

Now, as of right now, police are not saying how the children were killed. Yes, there's a chance that they were strangled, that they were shot, that they were killed by blunt object. Likely, no. They likely died of heat stroke. Arizona authorities say the mother of the baby and toddler found strapped in the car seats is identified as Brittany Velasquez. Right now, we're not exactly sure about the circumstances surrounding this, but joining me right now, Lauren Howard, psychologist joining us out of New York, Ashley Wilcott, juvenile judge and founder of ChildCrimeWatch.com, DNA expert George Skiro, and Larry Mayher, Crime Stories investigative reporter. Larry, thank you for

being with us. Let's just take it from the top. What happened? Here's what police in Superior say Brittany Velasquez told them, that she had left the children at this house inside the car while she went to work for the day. And when she returned 14 hours later, the children were still in the car and were dead. She claims that she was leaving the children there for a babysitter to pick up. And at this point, she claims the babysitter never showed up to get the children. I think I know who it is. I think it's Zenaida Gonzalez. She went on the run after she murdered top mom Casey Anthony's daughter, Kelly. And I think she has surfaced now in Superior, Arizona. You know what? Some of the facts I have are bass-ackwards. Let's get it straight, Larry

Mayher. Now, the main fact I had was correct, that she was driving and she leaves the children there in the car. Or did she say she took them in the home and went to work? I thought she went to visit someone. No, she went to work at a restaurant and had a 12-hour shift at the restaurant she told police that she left the children in the car strapped in their car seats and they were still strapped in their car seats and still wearing the same clothes when she returned at 11 o'clock that night to pick them up so she leaves them there how does she get to work she has another vehicle that is taking her to and from work you mean does she get to work? She has another vehicle that is taking her to and from work. You mean she hitched a ride or there's another vehicle parked at the house?

That wasn't clear. She has access to two cars, one and her grandmother was driving one of them. And apparently her grandmother gave her a ride to work and then picked her up at work and drove her back to her car. Okay, so hitched a ride, I think, is the answer to that. So is this her grandmother's house? No. Apparently, this is the house. Wow, this is confusing. This is apparently the house that she claims was supposed to be babysitting the children.

And the woman says she has no idea what Velazquez is talking about, that she never had any arrangement to watch these children. She had no idea they were there all day, and she certainly never went out to look at them. Authorities say a mother is responsible. Two young children, tiny tots found dead in car seats, strapped in a vehicle in a rural Arizona community. Now, this is what we know. Pinal County Sheriff's Office spokesperson says a young mom leaves behind two-year-old Christopher and 10-month-old daughter Brooklyn strapped in the car seat. But why?

From what I'm gathering from Larry Mayher, she goes and parks in an unrelated woman's driveway and leaves the children there, claiming that woman is her babysitter, Larry? That appears to be the case. Police have not given the name of the woman or the name of the family who own the house and whether those two are connected. I'm sort of kind of connecting dots there. I believe that that is the story that she told them, was that the woman at the house was supposed to be babysitting the children. Well, let me just break in really quickly because we have information she parked at the grandparents' or the great-grandparents' house. So wherever she parked the car, kind of irrelevant

because wherever it was parked, the people who lived in the house did not know she was parking the car, much less leaving the children in there. And it's also irrelevant as to her claim some unknown anonymous babysitter was coming to get the children or lived in that house. You know why? Because she doesn't exist. Next.

Straight out to Lauren Howard, psychologist joining us. Family members have now been quoted saying that she often left her children alone for hours or even days at a time to go out and socialize and party. I mean, how can you leave a 20-month-old and a two-year-old alone? You can't. I mean, it's negligence. It's pure and simple negligence. And I understand that the grandparents had called child services and said she was unfit and disassociative and that they needed to take the children away. I think the grandparents are in their 80s and said, you know, 80-year-olds are not able to take care of a 10-month-old and a 2-year-old. And child protective services evidently did come, but filed reports did nothing. Well, this is what DFAC says, Department of Family and Children's Services.

In both reports, there was no evidence the mother was abusing or neglecting her children. I don't know about you guys, but leaving them alone for days on end is neglecting. There were no concerns raised regarding Ms. Velasquez's mental health. No evidence presented that indicated mental health issues. We can only make decisions based on available evidence and what the law allows. You know what? That sounds like BS to me because yeah, Lauren Howard, psychologist joining me out of New York. I don't think she has a mental illness either. She just wanted to leave and be free so she leaves for hours or days at a time according to family members that right there the children should have been taken away okay but they

weren't and now they're dead lauren you know child protective services is not can't be aware of the fact that she routinely leaves them alone unless they're willing to accept the word of her grandparents in other words the investigation that they did sounds to me like a house call, talked to her for 15 minutes and left. What can you find out in that time? I mean, a psychopath could convince you that they're fine in 15 minutes. So clearly what you're looking at, and this is not unusual, child protective services are understaffed, overworked, and they've got 25 cases they've got to do in that day. And so how much time are they spending actually investigating what her mental status is? The only real report you're getting is from the grandparents who were not believing them or were saying, oh, well, they're old. What do they know?

I mean, this is – I can address that point if you would like me to. Yeah, jump in. Yeah, of course. Okay. We have to remember that there are two grandmothers in this case, her grandmother, Brittany Velasquez's grandmother, and then the grandmother of the children. Now, the grandmother of the children is the one who called the police to report the abuse and neglect. And her allegations included that Brittany was leaving the children with her grandmother, who is 80 years old and

unfit. Well, I don't think that I don't think that's going to be a problem. Leaving the children with the great grandmother, as far as defects is concerned, they're not going to see that as a problem. However, leaving them alone for days and hours on end is a problem. Now, here's the dichotomy. She, Brittany Velasquez, portrays herself as a doting mother online, but relatives say they reported her to DFAC's Department of Family Children's Services many, many times. Now, if you look online, which of course I have, Velazquez comes across as loving and doting to her children, always posting about them on social media. But that seems to conflict with the relatives' reports, the family reports. Now, what does that mean lauren howard we need to shrink for this

what is the the the motivation of painting a picture-perfect life online when your life is anything but that have you noticed that there's all these awfully skinny people in luxury hot spots around the world wearing designer duds. I'm having a hard time believing that's real. This mom, same way. Don't confuse adoration of your children and neglect. I mean, the two can go hand in hand. She might have seen them, the children might have represented, you know, arm candy to her.

And she bragged about how great they were and how much she adored them and that really has nothing to do with her negligence on their behalf it's very easy to you know pose on instagram um look at me and my gorgeous adorable kids and aren't i a great mom and oh i think i'll run off to that party and leave the kids in the car or okay wait a minute hold on listen to this george skiro dna expert hold on i haven't gotten to the evidence in the car yet i'm getting there i'm getting there um joining me right now ashley wilcott juvenile judge and founder of childcrimewatch.com listen to this post this is her this is the mom that we now believe leaves her two children in the car to die of heat stroke. Quote, I really can't believe how S-H-I-T-T-Y some other mothers can be.

Repeat, I really can't believe how S-H-I-T-T-Y some other mothers can be. It really pisses me off. Ugh. Somebody quotes to her. Somebody's speaking to her. A family member. Yeah, the one day you finally decide to get your kid, you throw them off to go clubbing. It's such a joke.

Okay. So there's a war of words going on online. Ashley Wilcott, DFAX, has been called several times. They don't notice the family's getting on her case about clubbing and leaving the children alone. What are they twiddling their thumbs? Yeah, once again, I hate to say it, but system fail because these are things that if they thoroughly investigated should come to light as to what she's doing or not doing. The other comment I have to make with her is, you know, that Shakespearean quote, thou doth protest too much. There it is. And a lot of

parents do that. They're denied, denied, protest, protest. And guess what? They're the ones abusing their kids. I love that quote. I use it all the time whenever possible. Sadly, the twins don't know what I'm talking about when I start saying things like me thinks thou doth protest too much, but I still do it. it makes me feel better anyway so people are getting all over her online her family's calling defects Larry Mayher crime stories investigative reporter just give me a general temperature reading for superior Arizona the average temperature at that time of year is 68 degrees for a high. That day it reached 75 degrees. The website kidsandcars.org says heat stroke can be fatal at

a temperature of 57 degrees. So it was certainly warm enough. That's not as hot as I expected it to be, but the reality is, joining me right now, DNA expert George Esquiro. Inside of a car, amazingly, it gets stiflingly hot in there. It can be 70 degrees outside, and in the car it's 90 degrees, George. Yes, that's correct, Nancy. Being in an enclosed atmosphere like that is going to amplify the amount of heat that's absorbed by the vehicle and generated within the vehicle. I mean, we don't even allow animals to be left in cars for that long, much less children should not be left in cars at all under those circumstances. I just can't get over this, Ashley Wilcott, juvenile judge with childcrimewatch.com.

Ashley, the leaving the child, I'm saying it's tat mamre du, you know, deja vu all over again, because she's claiming she leaves the car or she's claiming the babysitter, the imaginary babysitter is responsible. And hold on, hold on. Guess what?

Against the advice of lawyers, she's calling the local Fox station and granting interviews. I bet her lawyer is standing on his or her head right now. Let's take a listen to what the new taught mom has to say. Who betrayed you? Who do you think betrayed you like the babysitter i mean i just want her to just say like the truth like that she had them the truth is eventually going to come out so she's taking time out from the grieving process to call the local fox station to talk about how she has been betrayed. And I'd just like to point out, not judging,

but as in Tot Mom Casey Anthony, when cops finally catch up to her and find her, she has the full hairdo, the makeup, the hot pink lipstick, a foundation, and the full eyeliner. You know, it's hard to keep that stuff on when you're crying. Just I'm just putting it out there. But that's what I'm observing. What about Ashley Wilcott jump in? Not only that, but it's all symptomatic of narcissism and a narcissist. And so all of these little things go together. And she's going to look her best and she's going to look her best and

she's going to sound her best and it's all about her and everything's great look her best for her mugshot excuse me Ashley Wilcott I know you're a lawyer I know you're a juvenile judge I know you founded a website but you're also a shrink when did you get your MD because you're throwing out narcissistic like you know what you're impressed I know i don't i'm not did you just steal that from lauren howard lauren i mean i don't know about you but i'd be girl fight i would love to give this girl the benefit of a personality disorder diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder but that is not the case. Sorry. No, absolutely not. This is a self-centered, not very bright, that's clear, self-centered concern with her own sort of survival and having fun and having a life. She actually believes, I mean,

you know, it's the OJ syndrome. She actually believes that somehow or other she did make arrangements. She didn't purposely kill her kids. She would never do that. She loves her kids. I truly believe that's where her head is at. She made arrangements, all right. She made arrangements to lock her two children to slowly die inside her airtight car over 14 hours. To George Schiro, DNA expert, George, what would you expect to find in the car if this were a heat stroke? And what is a heat stroke? Well, a heat stroke is when the

body's exposed to prolonged high temperatures over time that's going to cause the body to eventually shut down. The preliminary autopsy reports, from what I understand, was dehydration and exposure. Of course, they're also going to want to look and do toxicology on the children, look for any marks. Exposure to what? Heat? Yes, exposure to heat and, like I said, dehydration from lack of water. And, like I said, long-term looking at things, again, see if any types of drugs were given to them, if anything was done to even suppress their system even more, maybe put them to sleep. You mean like give them Benadryl? Yes, that's correct.

I give my husband half a bottle of Benadryl every night, and it works great. But when it comes down to children, ixnay, even a tiny bit over can be fatal. Don't judge me, George Skiro, but when the children were young, they were having all sorts of issues. I gave them their correct dosage of Benadryl only, which I was so nervous about. I'd measure it out in a syringe, the kind you get to perfectly measure it, of course, without a needle, only to learn my husband came along right behind me and also gave them Benadryl. Oh, my stars. Anyway, obviously they're fine, but that is scary. So, George Skira, you say that they're doing toxicology to see if she possibly sedated them so they wouldn't scream?

That would be one possibility, yes. Or to, again, just keep them quiet in the car, put them to sleep, whatever it may be. And again, when you combine perhaps non-therapeutic doses with that high temperature and heat, that's only going to lead to one thing, and that's death. The issue about being buckled into a car seat reminds me so much of Susan Smith buckling her children into the car seat and pushing the car into the water, that feeling of helplessness. Now, let me understand something. Larry Mayher, Crime Stories investigative reporter. Let me get this straight.

So she works at a restaurant. She straps her children in to the car seats, leaves them in this driveway, and she leaves and hitches a ride with her grandmother, who takes her to work and agrees to pick her up after a 12-hour shift. Police have not connected the dots yet. My understanding is, I believe, that she thought whoever lived at that house was going to take care of her kids. The people at that house said we had nothing, we had no arrangement for taking care of her kids. The people at that house said we had nothing. We had no arrangement for taking care of the kids. So obviously there was no communication between her and the family

that lived in this house. Well, that sounds, Ashley Wilcott, exactly like what Top Mom said. Yeah. Exactly like what Casey Anthony said about the imaginary babysitter, Zenaida Gonzalez. Exactly. And I have to say this, given social media, amount of media coverage, don't you wonder if some of these people with these issues steal the headlines, so to speak, and say, oh, it worked for her. I'm going to say this. It was the imaginary babysitter. You know what?

I hadn't even thought of it at that angle yet. Here is another twist on this. Lauren Howard, her own brother, Vincent Velasquez, is speaking out. Listen. You know, they just, they never had a chance. She's very manipulative. So we would call, explain her mental issues, explain what she's doing. They would come and talk to her and they would just leave.

We would never hear anything back. They would come talk to her and leave, come talk to her and leave. But like I said, she would, she would manipulate them to look normal. We begged CPS to take the kids. We begged the cops. Nothing would happen. So the only thing we could do, we can't kidnap the kids, so we would let them, you know, my grandparents would let them stay in our house.

So other than that, that's pretty much all we could do is know that they were in a home being fed. They were innocent. They didn't even have a chance to live they never got to love anybody um one thing i'm happy about that my grandparents um they took care of them if it wasn't for my grandparents those kids would have never seen true love. Lauren Howard, psychologist joining us out of New York. That's her own brother. Yeah, I mean, you know, we know, we've known about the grandparents. I was not aware that the brother also had felt the same,

saw the same issues with her. It is not unusual for naughty people or people doing the wrong thing to be manipulated. And any mental health professional is very much aware of that and is trained to see through it. So it really does go back, as Ashley said, to a failure of the system. The Child Protective Services was called several times. They came. They did not do a thorough, appropriate, complete analysis of the situation. And this is the result of it.

And there's no question that's what occurred. Now, I'm not blaming Child Protective Services for this mother's behavior. But there are many people involved. I'll just put it out there. Of course, they're not the ones that kill the children, but they were told over and over and over to save the children, to get them out of the home. Ashley Wilcott, juvenile judge, catch this. Her last post, which I was describing earlier about how S-H-I-T-T-Y other moms can be well the last statement that she made according to reports the last comment on that thread states yes effing stupid mothers out there yeah and i'm gonna say this every time i try a case my best evidence is from people who know the person the relatives the friends if you would have like if defects would have investigated and spoken to those people, or if there were a trial and those people testified,

you're going to have the evidence that it's the mother who's sick, not the other mothers like she wants to claim. Take a listen to what local police say. The mother has been booked in to the Pinal County Jail on two counts of first-degree murder. We are currently still investigating. We're awaiting the autopsy and the toxicology reports for the two kids, so those charges could change. We're going to work with the county attorney's office to make sure that we get the appropriate charging. However, at this time, she is at the Pinal County Jail on two counts

of first-degree murder. There was enough to book her. However, we want to make sure that, especially in a case like this where a mother has lost two kids at the same time, we want to make sure that we have the appropriate charges. Still fair to say there were signs of foul play in the vehicle? There was evidence that allowed us to book her into jail on two charges for murder. Were those children, did they have gunshot wounds, stab wounds, anything like that? I'm not aware of any gunshot wounds or stab wounds. The call was for two children found deceased in a car,

so we responded with our detectives and our crime scene investigators. This is a small community. We know Brittany. In the last two years, we probably responded to her home, to her house, on seven or eight different occasions for various matters. Anything involving the children you possibly would like to refuse? Maybe. We're still reviewing our records, but we know at least one incident that happened on January 3rd where CPS was contacted in reference to children.

And what was the result of that phone call? I don't know what action, if any, CPS has taken. At the time, I don't know if any of you are familiar with the process, but basically you contact their hotline, give us an opsis of the situation, and then they make a determination from there. It is my understanding that when the January 3rd incident was reported, they did not take action. Family seemed to indicate that you were trying to help in regards to CPS. Is that a fair statement? Yes.

And nothing was done? To my knowledge, no. Was this frustrating for you? Yes. How come? This is a serious incident. This is a small community. It is absolutely rocked, superior.

The last homicide investigation of any significant magnitude was probably eight or nine years ago. Occasionally people die in car accidents in the area, but this is unheard of for us. So you were concerned it could get to this level, maybe with that January call? One of our officers was, yes, and that's why he called. As far as warning signs, probably. What were warning signs? Things that would concern us.

And I think I can speak for my staff. We are a dedicated, voted, very skilled batch of individuals, and they will do the right thing, and they did. As far as other state entities, I can't speak for what they did or didn't do. It was reported by a relative that she would often leave her kids at the home and expect someone else to take care of them. Any indications of why that would be the case? No clue. Are you able to talk about the conditions that the children were in when the police responded to the scene? I can't because I wasn't there at the time. No discussions on that just yet?

Not specifically. They were found in the vehicle and they were dead. And CPR was performed actually inside the house. The initial information suggested that they had been removed from the vehicle so that the mother could perform the CPR. Prior to your officers arriving? That's how I understood it. So when your officers arrived, the children were inside the house?

That's what I understand. And Brittany took the children out of the car and into the house. That's what I understand. And Brittany took the children out of the car and into the house. That's what was reported, yes. Larry Mayher, Crime Stories investigative reporter, isn't it true that brother also makes another allegation? He claims that he and his family have been convinced that his sister is mentally ill since she was very young. And she has been a little off, in his words, in recent years. You know, interesting to Lauren Howard, psychologist joining us. Lauren, a lot of times when people misbehave or they break the law,

they do something we don't understand. Like taught mom, Casey Anthony, we say she's crazy. That's the street word, crazy. That does not mean legally insane. The common vernacular of crazy is they don't conform to what you think they should be. That is not insane. A negligent mother, I mean, to me, you've got to be. That is not insane. A negligent mother. I mean, to me, you've got to be, quote, crazy to leave your child alone for days on end while you go clubbing.

But that is not insanity under the law, Lauren. That is not insane. Right. Okay, but Nancy, you know that whoever her assuming public defender is, they are going to go for an insanity plea on this. They are. And, you know, she's not showing remorse. She's being disassociated. Her behavior is disassociated.

She doesn't think she's guilty. You know, it's not one of those things where after she does it, she says, oh, my God, look what I've done. No, as a matter of fact, you're right, Lauren. Alan, roll in again. Let's follow up with what Lauren Howard just said. Let's take a listen. Now, keep in mind, keep in mind as you are hearing this,

that two children, Brooklyn Rose and Christopher, are dead. This is their mother speaking out for the first time. She takes upon herself to do a voluntary interview with the local Fox station there in Arizona. Listen to what she says. know how to feel like i'm just very hurt my my pride and joy was taken from me and it just makes me really mad who betrayed you who do you think betrayed you like the babysitter i mean i just want her to just say like the truth like that she had them the truth is eventually going to come out it is well you heard it yourself that is the young mom, Brittany Velasquez, talking about how she's been betrayed after her two children are found dead. We're on it. news for you. Don't buy an annuity until you understand the pros and cons of annuities. A free book to help you maximize your retirement income from television host and three-time author

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Imagine opening your door on a bright Saturday morning to find a clown standing there in full clown regalia with the orange wig, the red nose, the high top shoes with balloons and flowers. And not really putting two and two together suddenly before you can even ask a question. The clown raises a handgun and shoots the mom of the home in the face, then calmly turns around, walks to a Chrysler LeBaron convertible in the driveway, and leaves. That is exactly what happened to a young mom, Marlene Warren, when she opened the door on a Saturday morning to find that clown in an orange wig, red nose, high-tap shoes with balloons and carnations. And now, years later,

the case is solved. Straight out to Chuck Roberts, Crime Stories investigative reporter. Chuck, what happened? Well, Marlene Warren, living in a pretty upscale West Palm Beach enclave called the Arrow Club, opens her door, as you said, on May 26, 1990, which, of course, is just about 28 years ago. And there is the clown wearing a clown suit, carrying flowers and two foil balloons, one with the inscription, you're the greatest, and the other embossed with snow white, and opens and shoots twice with a.38 caliber handgun. Her stepson, a boy in his 20s, actually a man in his 20s named Joey Ahern's, who is the son of Michael Warren's former wife, described in pretty good detail what the clown costume looked like and how the woman calmly walked away and got into the LeBaron and drove off.

The only thing he could describe other than the costume itself was that she had brown eyes. Apparently, she didn't speak. So he just surmised that it was a woman. The car was abandoned in a parking lot a few miles away. No sign of the clown costume itself, but there was some forensic evidence that they retrieved, and back in 1990, they couldn't do an awful lot with it. But here we are 28 years later, and they can, and they did. And that's produced an arrest. Oh, my stars. I'm just amazed that we're just finding out the evidence now.

I want to go back to the purchase of the clown costume. Take a listen to this woman speaking to ABC's 2020. So you had a knock at the door. Right. And then what? She said, I need to buy a costume. And I said, can you come back tomorrow? We're closed.

And now I really need to get a costume tonight. A Ruby's clown costume, an Afro clown wig, Bob Kelly clown makeup, and a sponge nose. I'd say probably around 5'8", brown eyes, long chocolate hair, and jeans, and a men's work shirt. Do you remember how much? I think the sale was like either $79 or $89. Cash? Cash.

Did you know why they were asking? I said, could I ask please what this is in reference to? And he said, well, you're probably going to read about it all over the papers tomorrow morning. But a woman was shot at her front door by a person dressed in a clown costume, wearing flowers and balloons. And he shot her in the face. And my heart. Chuck Roberts with me, Crime Stories investigative reporter. Chuck, have they known all along where the clown suit was purchased, or are they just learning that as well?

I think they knew it all along. You know, a lot of this is coming out very late. There was a 3,000-page document released by the police maybe nine months after the arrest of Michael Warren's now wife, then lover at the time. She was always a suspect, but the evidence was pretty circumstantial. But, yes, you're right. We just now learned that she was identified by two employees of the clown shop and also identified by an employee at a Publix grocery store who sold her the foil balloons. And I'm wondering, I mean, they know who sold her the balloons. They know who we think gave her, sold her the clown costume, but they didn't have surveillance video at the Publix to ID the purchaser of the balloons and carnations, Chuck? Apparently not. Yeah, that's a very good point. She was disguising herself at the time.

But the description, according to the release of this information last week, was pretty vivid. You know, she has long brown hair. The description was kind of dead on, I would think. But in any case, they had to put it all together. They had a motive. The fact that the suspect, Sheila Keene Warren, was in love with the husband of the woman who was killed that day, standing in her doorway. It's just shocking to me that it's been 27 years since a young mom's gunned down in her own home at the front door. And you may wonder, what could be possible motivation. Well, Marlene Warren was the suspect's husband's first wife.

As you know, now we know gunned down allegedly by his girlfriend. Was she really the husband's girlfriend? They were rumored to have had a secret relationship, her, Sheila King, and the husband michael warren before she married him back in 2002 why according to employees they say that the two had been seen kissing and actually having sexual relations in the office uh and the neighbors say he was frequently at her home they denied the relationship to lauren howard psychologist joining us this is the story as old as dirt you know what i really love nancy is the snow white balloon because that that sort of tells the story doesn't it i'm sure that was a purposeful choice

to choose a Snow White balloon. Yeah, it's just all this time immemorial. I mean, you know, it's just funny. Funny, ha ha. Donning this clown con, it was so premeditated. The whole thing was so planned and so decisive. And the fact that she got away with it for this long, I mean, it is almost

liberating for her. I mean, she never, how she could not have gotten caught is beyond me. But, you know, I understand technology has changed. Motivation, pretty clear, but murder? Take a listen to this. The detectives during the initial investigation developed some people of interest, one being Sheila Keene. It was rumored that Sheila Keene and Michael Warren were having an affair. We now have learned since then that they have married, and they are currently married, and they were living in the Tennessee, Virginia area. The detectives during the initial investigation, Detective Bill Williams and the rest of his team did a phenomenal job

documenting the entire case, as well as collecting and preserving the crime evidence from the crime scene. I'd like to say that in cold cases, we kind of, we have a big puzzle, and some of the pieces are already filled in, and a lot of it was already filled in by the thorough investigation done by the initial detectives. We just needed a few of those little pieces of the puzzle and we were able to do that with the new technologies and DNA and we were able to complete the puzzle and I think that's what led to the indictment. And we went back and interviewed numerous witnesses. We had to locate and find them and then interview numerous witnesses, review the evidence, were able to submit new evidence for DNA analysis.

And in doing so, we were able to get the indictment. The case is still ongoing, and we will definitely work diligently to determine if anyone else was involved. Can you talk about, not just this case, in the bigger picture, as the sheriff talked about, I'm sure the state attorney will talk about, the advancements in the technology that allow you to be able to solve this kind of case, and specifically, what in the bigger picture does that allow you to do, and how far you've come in that area? That was a lot of questions.

Back in 1990, I believe back then they just had ABO typing and things like that. So now we have a nuclear DNA, we have touch DNA, we have mitochondrial DNA, and all those things together allow us to be able to test items that weren't able to be tested back in 1990. So it has definitely led us to be able to solve a lot of our cold cases through the advances in technology. Can you reiterate what she said before she shot her and what the balloon said? One balloon said you are the greatest and the other one I believe was a snow white balloon and said something to the effect of oh how nice. Detectives during the initial investigation were

able to determine that the same balloons and flower arrangement was purchased at a Publix, which was about six-tenths to a mile away from where Sheila Keene's apartment was at the time. Purchased just before the murder? Yes, the same day, yes. Given all the evidence that you had back in 1990, do you understand why she couldn't have been prosecuted then? It just wasn't quite over the line?

Yes, I mean, that obviously is the decision of the state attorney's office. And if they don't believe that there's sufficient evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, then you get basically one shot. If you roll that dice and you take that chance and she's found not guilty, then she never can be charged again. So sometimes just patience is the best. And now, here, Virginia police. An Abington, Virginia woman has been arrested and charged with a 27-year-old capital murder case that originated out of Palm Beach County, Florida. The Washington County, Virginia Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigative Division

received information from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office that they had obtained information linking Sheila Keene Warren of Abington, Virginia to the 1990 homicide of Marlene Warren. She's been transported to the Abington facility of the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail in Abington where she is awaiting extradition back to Palm Beach County, Florida. The suspect or the arrestee walked up to the front door with balloons in her hand. The deceased victim came to the front door and was shot at that location. Well, any murder is horrific. It doesn't matter if you're wearing a clown costume or not. Taking another person's life, it's already a horrific incident. It just took us 27 years to bring closure to this, to the victim's family. Murder cases never go away. They never go away.

To Ashley Wilcott, juvenile judge and founder of ChildCrimeWatch.com, the neighbors were stunned. Isn't that always the way? They lived in a very affluent neighborhood, actually on a lake. Listen to this, Ashley. They're very friendly, outgoing, nice. He was a happy, affectionate type person. They would hug you when you'd go see them.

If you needed something, you'd call them, and they'd be there. I've been in shock ever since. Yeah, I couldn't believe it. And still don't. Just hope and pray that she's not guilty. Very distraught, which he would be. He told me, he said, you know, she didn't do this.

He's just so kind-hearted. I said, oh, absolutely. That's why this whole thing is so hard to believe. Ashley Wilcott, I'm not stunned. You know what? You should never be stunned by anybody that does anything. Because bottom line, when it comes to affairs of the heart, it is an old story. This does happen.

The other thing I want to point out in this case, Nancy, is, you know what? I generally believe what goes around comes around. And even though it's this many years later, guess what? She's arrested. You know, this is what we had at the time. The costume shop employees, along with them, detectives learned flowers and balloons came from a supermarket half a mile from the victim's home. The Chrysler LeBaron was soon found abandoned in a nearby parking lot. It had been reported stolen by a Payless rental agency near Michael Warren's car lot, Bargain Motors. Now, it had been rented to a couple that told detectives they had arrived after hours at the Payless hoping to leave the car and finding nobody there, they went home. And long story short, the car ended up being stolen.

So it was a stolen car that was discovered later. What about the outfit? George Sciro, Joining Me DNA expert, now DNA technology, has been used. Well, Nancy, it appears that they used what's known as mitochondrial DNA to make this association between some brown hairs that were found in the vehicle along with some orange wig fibers. And they use this to make this association to Sheila Keen Warren. Now, I don't know why it took so long. The first mitochondrial DNA case in the United States was back in 1996. So this technology has been around for almost for over 20 years.

So I don't understand why it's taken that long, but it appears to be that's the type of DNA association that they made in this case. And this is a type of DNA that's inherited from the mother only. So it passes from mother to daughter or mother to son. And it's not as specific as the regular type of DNA that we look at. It's more, you know, instead of the 1 in 10 trillion numbers we get, this is going to be more like in the thousands as opposed to something very specific. But like I said, I don't know why it took this long,

given that this technology has been around for so long. Guys, we also learned that the husband told detectives he and his wife had a great relationship, but his employees told a completely different story. Her family does as well. They claim the now dead Marlene Warren had threatened to divorce him over, quote, numerous affairs, Lauren Howard, numerous

affairs, and for beating her. Yeah, well, do we think that Michael Warren had something to do with this? That he was aware of what his girlfriend was doing? Yeah. I think that's the question. I mean, I don't know that, but I mean, he's at her house all the time they're having sex at the office i mean don't you think he knows she goes and rents a clown costume and then his wife turns up dead he doesn't

think wow i mean they never talk about it it's very possible they don't but he may suspect it just as the police suspected it i mean it seemed pretty obvious right i mean all of the in terms of motive who's going to walk up to a woman's door and shoot her in the face there there's got to be a motive for it and the only person with a motive was this you know you're right so chuck roberts that's a whole nother can of worms we don't know and he has not been named as a person of interest, whether he knew about it or not. But let's get real, Chuck Roberts, you know, he never asked her, hey, did you do it? And the rental car, remember, the rental car was stolen from a spot right beside his used car lot.

It was from the Payless Rental Agency, and he'd had a dispute with Payless over using that name in his ads at Bargain Motors. So there was a dispute. It's kind of a complicated story, but the Chrysler Baron comes back, can be traced back to Bargain Motors. And I think that's another key that helps solve this cold case. That plus That, plus testimony from Joseph Ahern's attorney, was interviewed by investigators in Palm Beach, and he told them that a year before the shooting of Marlene Warren, that Michael Warren asked him whether or not if a husband killed his wife, that it would affect his uh his taking of her estate and the attorney advised him not really unless you're actually convicted of first degree murder and indeed uh the michael warren inherited uh her assets plus a 53 000 insurance policy that is painful because according to his employees uh he said he would never divorce his first wife because she would get half his assets. And then, bam, no more division of property problems for him.

She shot down at the front door, clearly an assassination. We are on the case waiting to see if any other charges will develop. Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Goodbye, friend. Attention type 2 diabetics. If you or a loved one has taken Invokana, Invokamet or Invokamet XR or other inhibitors for type 2 diabetes and suffered amputation of the toes, feet, or legs, you may be entitled to substantial financial compensation. Act now. For a free consultation and free information, call Injury Help Desk at 800-245-4904. 800-245-4904. Call now. This is an advertisement paid non-attorney spokesperson. www.injuryhelpdesk.com is responsible for this advertisement.

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