Woman accused of killing husband's first wife 30 years ago while wearing a clown suit

The husband of a woman accused of dressing up in a clown suit and shooting the man’s first wife nearly 30 years ago says she is “falsely accused”.

Sheila Keen Warren was arrested last month over the 27-year-old cold case murder of Marlene Warren who was gunned down in her home in Florida.

The suspect in the case earned the nickname “killer clown”.

“This is very serious and very unfair,” Michael Warren told ABC in the US about the accusations levelled against his second wife over the death of his first wife.

The case was cold until 2014 when authorities reopened it.

Sheila is now being held in the state of Virginia over the murder where prosecutors will seek the death penalty.

Her husband has denied any involvement in the death of this first wife on May 26, 1990.

Marlene was at home in an exclusive suburb in Flordia’s Palm Beach County where she had just finished breakfast at about 11am when the doorbell rang.

When she opened the door she was greeted by a person dressed in a clown costume and holding balloons and flowers.

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One of the balloons said, “You’re the Greatest,” according to police.

Police said the person in the clown costume handed her the gifts, pulled out a gun and fatally shot her.

They said the clown then "calmly" walked back to the car and drove away.

There had been no arrests in the cold case until this year when police detained Sheila in Virginia on September 27.

They allege she was the "killer clown" and charged her with first-degree murder.

Police say they will seek the death penalty.

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While Michael denies any involvement in the shooting, he was eventually charged in a separate case.

He was convicted of racketeering an odometer tampering and served three-and-a-half years in prison before he was released in 1997.

Sheila and Michael had met through work.

At the time of the murder, Sheila ran a business to repossess cars and often worked with Michael.

Suspicion grew that the two were having an affair - something they both denied.

However, in the nearly 30 years that had passed, Sheila had married Michael in a Las Vegas chapel wedding in 2002.

The two had moved to Abingdon, Virginia, where they had built a home and ran a fast food restaurant called The Purple Cow in nearby Kingsport, Tennessee, according to authorities.

Marlene's parents openly claimed in 2000 that Michael may have had a mistress before the murder when their daughter told them they were having marital problems.