Killer Clown Who Murdered Wife of Man She Later Married Released After 7 Years Behind Bars: 'Not Fair,' Says Son

The Florida woman who was convicted of donning a clown costume and fatally shooting the wife of a man she would go on to marry was released from prison on Saturday, Nov. 2, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.

Sheila Keen-Warren, 61, was convicted in April 2023 of second-degree murder for the shooting death of Marlene Warren, 40, of Wellington, in 1990.

Arrested in 2017, she initially pleaded not guilty to murder charges. But in April 2023, she entered into an agreement with prosecutors, agreeing to plead guilty to second-degree murder.

Sentenced to 12 years in prison, she was freed from behind bars 18 months after entering prison in May 2023, according to online records from the Florida Department of Corrections.

She was released early because she had been in custody for seven years after her 2017 arrest and Florida law in 1990 allowed significant credit for good behavior, according to the Associated Press.

She was initially expected to be released about two years after going to prison, the AP reports.

Warren's son, Joseph Ahrens, who was present when Keen-Warren shot his mother, is upset that she is out of prison.

"There is no justice there," he tells PEOPLE. "It's not fair. It wasn't full closure."

Ahrens tells his story in next episode of People Magazine Investigates. Titled "Sex. Clowns. Murder," the episode airs Monday, Nov. 4, at 9/8c on ID/Investigation Discovery and streams on Max.

The story is also featured in the Nov. 11 issue of People Magazine, on newsstands now.

On the morning of May 26, 1990, Marlene opened the door of her home in Wellington to what appeared to be a delivery person dressed as a clown with balloons and a basket of flowers. Moments later, the assailant shot Marlene in the mouth and calmly walked to the LeBaron parked in the driveway and drove off.

For years, authorities suspected Keen-Warren, then 26, who was having an affair with Marlene's husband, Michael Warren, but said they didn't have enough evidence at the time to convict her.

In 2002, the two wed in Las Vegas after Michael spent three years in prison for grand theft, racketeering and tampering with the odometers of the cars he sold at his used car dealership. They moved to a five-bedroom, lakefront home in Abingdon, Va., where Keen-Warren went by the name Debbie.

In 2014, dogged Palm Beach County investigators reopened the investigation after receiving a federal grant to solve cold cases with new DNA technology.

Authorities said advances in DNA technology allowed them to prove that the brown hair found in the LeBaron belonged to Keen-Warren.

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Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg had harsh words about Keen-Warren's release from prison.

"Sheila Keen-Warren will always be an admitted convicted murderer and will wear that stain for every day for the rest of her life," Aronberg said in a statement Saturday.

Her attorney Greg Rosenfeld told the AP that he and his client are elated at her release.

"We are absolutely thrilled that Ms. Keen-Warren has been released from prison and is returning to her family," Rosenfeld told the AP. "As we've stated from the beginning, she did not commit this crime."

Keen-Warren faced life in prison if she were convicted at trial. Rosenfeld told the AP she took the plea deal in 2023 because she would be released in less than two years.

The bizarre story is the focus of the next episode of People Magazine Investigates: Sex. Clowns. Murder airs Monday, Nov. 4, at 9/8c on ID/Investigation Discovery and streams on Max.