Never seen a bizarre murder like this. She said to her parents, if something happens to me, michael did it. Reporter but was it her husband michael or someone else dressed to kill . We found the woman who likely sold that costume. Said, i need to buy a costume. I said, can you come back tomorrow . No, i know exactly what i want, can i come in . Reporter and what that person may have wanted was murder. How could a case that was so notorious go unsolved all those years . Reporter im david muir. Reporter and im elizabeth vargas, and this is 20 20. Heres deborah roberts. People were concerned it was a mad, crazy clown. This is not fun and games. That was going to show up at your door and shoot you in the face. It was just bizarre. If someone dressed as a clown knocked on my door, i wouldnt open it. This is real life. What is shocking about it is where it happened, because it happened in wellington. Reporter wellington, florida. A hidden jewel in the crown of Palm Beach County, an area synonymous with power and money. The 35th president played here at the oceanside kennedy compound. The 45th wines and dines at the legendary maralago, 126 rooms, 20 acres. Youve got the wellington of the equestrian set where Bruce Springsteen has a house where bill gates is building a fiefdom. Reporter but its not just celebrities whore doing well in wellington. So are most other homeowners, get this, many land their own private planes on a 4000foot runway located smack in the middle of their backyard. The houses were built around a grass airstrip and they all had hangers out back for the owners planes. We call sunday sundown. So you take this out every day. I take it about two, three days a week when i got to the office which is 50 miles. Some people have two car garages, you need a three hangar garage. Reporter ah life at the aero club, offering the wellheeled an option to arrive in style. But back in 1990, an unexpected visitor descended into aero club in a style like no other. On a saturday morning in may just before 11 00am, a colorful character, dressed fully as a clown, drives into the nongated community and heads for an aptlynamed street called take off place. The clown car, so to speak, a White Chrysler lebaron. Inside, a delivery of balloons and a bouquet of flowers. Gifts earmarked for mrs. Marlene warren. She was home with her son and several of his friends. A vehicle pulled up in the driveway, they noticed someone dressed as a clown exit the vehicle and approach the front door. The clown walked to the door. And then marlene answered the door the clown hands her balloons and some flowers, she says oh, how pretty. And ill still remember this fact to this day, one of the balloons said, youre the greatest. The clown pulls out a gun and fires at point blank range into marlenes face. The clown slowly departs. Reporter and then what . Leaves. Reporter jumps in the car yeah, and goes. Reporter and takes off . Thats it. Never to be seen again. Reporter at the time of the shooting, marlenes 22year old son joe is at the home with friends and gets a brief look at his moms killer clown. He remembers seeing the clowns brown eyes as the clown got into a White Chrysler lebaron. Reporter neighbor bill kramer was out walking his dog and remembers a sound. I heard what sounded to me like a nail gun. A gun used in construction to drive nails into hard surfaces. Reporter the former navy pilot sees a commotion at back of the home as joes friends run for cover. Some very excited young people came running out saying something on the order of, theyve shot joeys mother. My wife said, stay there. Ill call 911. Reporter the 40year old mom lingers, but there is no hope. She dies two days later. But why marlene, a woman neighbors barely knew . She was a pleasant acting woman. She was friendly. If id see her in the parking lot or going down the street, wed wave and say hello. And that was about the extent of our relationship. Reporter but those who study crime and construct stories about it, the killer doesnt appear to be a stranger. There was something almost malicious about it. This was a personal crime. It was a very personal kind of crime. This got to be the most recent photograph of marlene we have got. Reporter her still grieving parents say she had no enemies. Marlene was outstanding, friendly, loving, kindness. Do anything for anybody. Always courteous, always respectful. Heres a set of three clowns. Reporter eerily, mom shirley says the family always liked clowns. In fact, heres their circus room in their home. I kind of look at this one right here and say hey, things will turn out all right. I feel hes sad because marlene was killed. Did you buy these after marlene was killed . I had them even before. Marlene hauntingly, painted this one as a young girl. This picture here is a painting of a clown. Marlene painted it when she was a teenager and i think its quite a coincidence. And ill keep it forever, that is for sure. And its just a shame that somebody took her away from us at 40yearsold. This was taken two, three years before she got murdered. Reporter she was also taken away from her husband of 18 years, Michael Warren, a selfmade man. Confident, thats the word. Very confident about everything. Reporter but former neighbor john herring says he seemed to be a fish out of water. Reporter rough around the edges . A little rough around the edges. Reporter were they a part of the community . In the wellington area, you would you knew almost everybody. And you would go to the country club or to the grocery store. Michael wasnt part of that. You never ran into him anywhere. As one guy once described it to me he had that used car rentawreck kinda personality. Reporter and an occupation that goes with it. At the time of the murder, Michael Warren was running a used car lot and rental car agency. A lot of the cars were not the best cars to buy. It was one of those places that you went if you had really bad credit and you needed something to drive. Reporter while warren doesnt appear to be a guy looking for trouble, somehow, trouble seems to find him. Things were always happening to him. His plane disappeared once. And it shows up somewhere with a broken engine, nobody knows what happened. He had race horses at one point and one horse shows up dead. And the guy said to me he was that kinda guy. Reporter while theres nothing in warrens history to suggest he or anyone in his family, would be the target of murder crime reporters from back in the day sensed something was amiss. Now youre thinking youre just going to cover yet another shooting and then you hear that this is police are looking for an assailant who was wearing a costume, not just a costume, a clown costume. It made sense that the murderer the killer had to have known or been associated with the family in some way. Reporter a family seemingly in crisis. Marlene telling her parents the marriage was rocky, but the Family Businesses reportedly made things more complex. A lot of the properties that she and michael, her husband, owned, were in her name, and so if there was ever to be a divorce, it would have been a complicated one. Reporter the newspapers back then run with speculation michael may have a mistress and theres this curious comment from marlene to her parents. She said to her parents, if something happens to me, michael did it. Reporter and when something does happen to marlene, wellington is on edge. It was the shock of this crime, because all of the sudden, they were betrayed in their sense of, of safety and security. Reporter up next who is this demon in disguise . And why is Marlene Warren a target . Investigators know how hard it is to climb inside the mind of a killer. Motive . Love triangle, money, greed, it could be a lotta things. Reporter and did this Costume Store employee unknowingly help dress a killer clown . I said, can you come back tomorrow, were closed. No, i really need this tonight. Reporter and did that killer somehow know about the familys fascination with clowns . When we return. [narrator] what if your shark vacuum could clean almost anywhere, all on its own. Presenting the shark ion robot. It maneuvers from floors to carpets. And uses smart sensor navigation to spot trouble, and steer around it. This robot is a shark that cleans, docks, and charges automatically. The shark ion robot. Protein. Not just for knives and forks anymore. well yes a soup in the right direction. Well yes but he hasoke up wwork to do. In. So he took aleve. If hed taken tylenol, hed be stopping for more pills right now. Only aleve has the strength to stop tough pain for up to 12 hours with just one pill. Aleve. All day strong. 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Reporter in the hours leading up to the murder deborah recalls a persistent customer who arrives after closing time. 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, were closed. And no, i really need to get a costume tonight. Reporter the urgency understandable if it was halloween. But its may. And the customer isnt looking for just any outfit. Full on circus clown hair and makeup designed to delight or terrify. A rubies clown costume, an afro clown wig, bob kelly clown makeup and a sponge nose. Reporter deborah offers police a description id say probably around 5 8. Brown eyes, long, chocolate hair, and jeans, and a mens work shirt. Do you remember how much . I think the sale was like either 79 or 89 dollars. I sort of almost can see the sales receipt. Cash. Cash. Reporter after lots of questions from the detectives barbara can no longer contain her curiosity. Did you know why they were asking . I said, could i ask please what this is in reference to . He said, well, youre 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 bearing flowers and balloons, and he shot her in the face, and my heart dropped. Reporter those two balloons would offer up a small clue. One reading youre the greatest. One of them was an unusual balloon, believe it or not, and it was only sold at one of the Publix Grocery stores in Palm Beach County. Reporter clerks at that same publix tell police that the same person also bought flowers. Former reporter jim dipaola was covering the story for the sun sentinel at the time. They were like, we know who the killer might be because we saw that person come and buy the same exact stuff youre talking about 90 minutes before the murder. Reporter the biggest clue of all still hiding in plain sight. Theyre looking for the Chrysler Lebaron. Reporter four days after the murder, the white 2door is located. Detectives found the car at this Royal Palm BeachShopping Plaza only 5miles from where the shooting occurred. Reporter theres no murder weapon inside, and curiously, no fingerprints. Detectives meantime are looking for any scrap of evidence so far theyve been relatively quiet about the new lead but theres hope that this will be a break in the investigation. Reporter police are reportedly quizzing Business Associates of Michael Warren who confirm his dead wifes suspicions about michael cheating. There were rumors that mr. Warren was having an affair with a specific woman that used to repossess cars for him. Reporter that woman is sheila keen. Sheila was a glades girl. Sheila grew up in the small towns, on the outskirts of the everglades near lake okeechobee. She was country, she was attractive, the boys liked her, and she liked money, she wanted a rich life. She wanted nice things. Reporter and Michael Warren could offer some nice things. It started with a paycheck. Warren was in the business of selling cars. Sheila in the business of repossessing them from his deadbeat customers. And she apparently was tough as nails. People said that she would go to any neighborhood at any time of the day or night and pull her flatbed truck up and take a car. She was fearless. Reporter but both deny any romantic relationship. When they asked mr. Warren about the supposed affair with sheila keen he denied it. And it was he said she said. Employees said that they would leave for long lunches together. Reporter slowly but surely dark clouds of suspicion gathering in the Sunshine State and sheila keen squarely in the cops crosshairs especially when they get wind of this. She allegedly went to an Auto Parts Store to entertain the owners young children. Reporter and speaking of disguises the 27 year old was married to someone who might have worn one himself. She marries a guy 20 years older than her, was a member of the klan. And she fell in love with him. Reporter when her short marriage sputters out, police say thats when she is suddenly free to spend time with the wealthy mike warren. So Michael Warren was paying for an apartment for sheila keen. Yes, thats according to the police, thats correct. The other residents at the complex where sheila lived said we thought michael and sheila were married, he was there so often. Reporter detectives get a search warrant for sheilas apartment confiscating some of her clothes and obtain samples of her hair. They also take a long hard look at the widower who they say stands to benefit from marlenes murder including; a Life Insurance policy covering the victim. Full control of the family business. Plus that home at aero club. In all a seven figure possible payout for the grieving husband. We were riding around wellington and i told him. I says, mike, i says, i dont think that you done it. But i know pretty damn well that you know more about it than youre lettin out. And he says, honest. Honest, bill. He says, i dont know. Reporter honestly, things are about to get even stickier for Michael Warren. Remember that getaway car . The abandoned Chrysler Lebaron . Police have been able to link it back to a car lot in west palm beach. Thats right. Michael warrens car lot. Reporter when we come back the wealthy wellingtonites think the pieces of a puzzle are coming together. You ask him i asked him. To his face, did you uhhuh. Kill your wife . Well said did you have anything to do with it . So why for almost 27 years does the case go ice cold . How is it that police would not have arrested her in the least on that evidence . Its not illegal to buy balloons or a costume. Reporter stay with us. I rode shotgun in lead humvee and i looked for bombs. Stop short. I dont see nothin man. You dont see it, he feels it. You are my hammer out there. Dont let these young guys see you fold. 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