Twenty-seven years after a person dressed as a clown carrying bouquet of flowers and two balloons shot a woman to death at her front door, police in the US state of Virginia has announced an arrest in one of the more bizarre cold case investigations in a state known for bizarre crimes.
Sheila Keen Warren, 54, was arrested without incident in Washington County, Virginia, on a charge of first-degree murder with use of a firearm in the killing of Marlene Warren, 40 – her current husband’s previous wife – in 1990, officials said Tuesday. “Any murder’s horrific. It doesn’t matter whether you’re wearing a clown costume or not,” Palm Beach County sheriff’s Sgt. Richard McAfee said at a news conference. “Taking another person’s life is a horrific incident. It just took us 27 years to bring closure to the victim’s family. Murder cases never go away.”
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office said Warren was arrested in Abingdon, Virginia, about 5 miles from the Tennessee state line. Police say they have been able to re-open their investigation because new DNA evidence has materialised.
They say Ms Warren has long been a suspect in the killing, but there has not been enough evidence. According to police, Ms Warren answered the door to accept a bouquet and balloons from a clown wearing a red wig, a red bulb nose, gloves and a smile painted on its white face.
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