Coulrophobes who are terrified of clowns may want to keep an eye out; America’s killer clown epidemic has been reignited in Virginia, where authorities say a local woman has been arrested in a peculiar investigation of a decades-old murder. Sheila Keen Warren, a 54-year-old former Floridian, has been arrested in Virginia on a charge of first-degree murder dating back to 1990.

Authorities have charged Sheila Keen Warren with the use of a firearm to murder Marlene Warren, the first wife of Sheila Keen Warren’s current husband, Michael Warren. 27 years ago, Marlene Warren opened her front door to discover Sheila Keen Warren standing there dressed as a clown, carrying balloons and wearing a vibrant orange clown wig.

Moments later, the 40-year-old Marlene Warren was shot in the head and killed, allegedly by the disguised Sheila Keen Warren.

“This is the strangest thing I’ve seen in all my 19 years in law enforcement,” Palm Beach County sheriff’s spokesman Bob Ferrell told the local SunSentinel at the time.

Killer clowns

Warren’s bizarre clown apparel was complimented by a bouquet of flowers and balloons, one of which read “You’re the greatest!” The shooting was witnessed by Marlene Warren’s two teenage sons, as well as several friends, who also saw Sheila Keen Warren escape in an unmarked vehicle.

Authorities finally caught up with Sheila Warren after 27 years in Washington County, Virginia, where she was taken in by police officers without incident, according to Fox News.

Investigators said they had reason to believe Sheila Warren and Michael Warren, the husband of both the alleged murderer and the victim, had been having an affair while Michael was still married to Marlene.

The case had initially gone cold after authorities failed to garner enough evidence to convict Warren, whom they initially suspected to be the culprit.

In 2014, however, the case was re-opened after background checks, and Warren has since been indicted by a grand jury for her alleged crime in August. After the murder, the newly-widowed Michael Warren and Sheila Keen Warren, the alleged killer, married and moved to Tennessee to start their own business.

Creepy clowns across the US

The United States was previously terrified by a series of so-called “killer clown” appearances in 2016, where incidents were reported in more than 20 states, according to USA Today. Threats were against schools in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and many videos and still images of clowns harassing local populaces went viral on such platforms as YouTube and Facebook.

“Thousands of man-hours have been put in in the last 27 years,” Washington County Sheriff Fred Newman told reporters at a news conference, per NBC.

“We’re more than glad to be able to help to bring this to a successful conclusion.”
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