Solved: Joy Hibbs 31-Year-Old Murder

A Horrible Surprise

At one in the afternoon of April 19, 1991, David Hibbs arrived home, excited to hand his report card over to his mom, Joy Hibbs, with the good news that he'd made the honor roll. However, instead of finding his home in its normal state, plumes of smoke billowed from his home in Corydon, Pennsylvania, in the Bristol Township. Noting that his mom's car was in the driveway, David hurried to the back kitchen door, but thick smoke pushed him back.

David noticed that all four gas stove burners were on full blast. He thought that maybe his mom had been cooking and forgotten, and the house had caught fire. Panicked, David screamed for help. Neighbors doing yardwork heard him and tried to locate Joy, but the fire was too hot. The neighbors then attempted to put the fire out with a garden hose, but by then, it was raging.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the fire department had the fire out, and a paramedic delivered the news to David that his mom was dead.

The firefighters had discovered 36-year-old Joy Hibbs' body in David's bedroom, burned beyond recognition on remnants of his mattress.

A Brutal Death

At first, investigators believed that Joy had died in an accidental fire, but her autopsy told a different story. It was clear that Joy was already dead when someone set the blaze as there was no sign of smoke inhalation.

Joy's remains showed that she had been severely beaten, strangled with an electrical cord, and then stabbed five times in the chest and neck before her murderer intentionally set the fire, most like to cover up evidence. A ploy that worked as the fire had gutted the home, and bystanders had trampled evidence in their attempts to put out the fire.

The Fire Marshall's investigation concluded that the fire had four points of origin– two in the kitchen, one in David's bedroom, and one in the hallway.

Investigators noted that Joy had cashed her paycheck the morning of her death. Officers discovered her wallet shoved into the couch and her purse's contents dumped onto the living room floor.

In addition to the lack of evidence, the authorities had trouble establishing motive. Joy worked part-time as a medical assistant, devoted to her family, and everyone loved her. David Hibbs added that his mom was "graceful, polite, and easy-going." The police had zero leads as to who would want to murder her.

The Day of Joy Hibbs' Murder

Before her Murder, Joy had sent her two children off to school, cashed her paycheck, ran some errands, and arrived home just after 11 am. Shortly after she came home, a church Reverend and another church member stopped for a visit. Joy had expressed interest in joying the church at Easter. The pastor and congregation member left Joy's just before noon. Soon after their departure, a dark blue Monte Carlo parked across Joy's lawn and stayed there until just before 1 pm.

The Leads Don't Pan Out

Two days after Joy's Murder, on April 21, 1991, former Bristol County Police Cheif Tommy Mills, then narcotics investigator, followed the lead of the dark blue Monte Carol to the home of Robert Francis Atkins in Falls, Pennsylvania about two hours from where Joy lived. Atkins, a former neighbor of Joy's, occasionally sold Joy and her husband small amounts of marijuana.

Richard Francis Atkins, May 2022. Source: Bucks County District Attorney's Office.

Atkins refused to allow the detectives entry to his home. Detective Mills noted a dark-colored Monte Carlo in the driveway, which matched a witness account of a similar car parked haphazardly outside Joy's home just before neighbors reported the fire. However, when later asked to identify the vehicle, the witness said Atkins' car wasn't the one they saw.

Investigators asked Atkins to take a polygraph, but he declined, mentioning that he'd hurt his arm and his lawyer had advised him to hold off since the nerve damage could throw off the results.

Atkins also mentioned that he was camping with some co-workers and his family when Joy's Murder occurred. Detectives went to the Poconos and confirmed Atkins' alibi.

Atkins corroborated that he procured small amounts of marijuana for the Hibbs, but he wasn't a dealer.

David Hibbs overheard several phone calls in the weeks leading up to his mother's Murder with Atkins over the recent purchase of a baggie of marijuana. Joy wanted her money back because the baggie was filled with stems and seeds. Atkins confirmed the arguments and claimed that he told Joy he couldn't return the product. That just wasn't done.

The idea that small baggies of marijuana would lead to someone's death didn't make sense to investigators. The couple was buying $20 to $40 of weed at a time, nothing that would put them on the radar of big dealers.

Then, on April 27, a co-worker of April Atkins, Richard Aktins' wife, claimed to have called the Atkins' home between 1:00 and 1:30 on the day of the Murder, and Atkins answered. By this point, police believed that Joy's Murder occurred between 11:50 and 12:50.

With Richard Atkin's alibi appearing airtight, the detectives shifted their investigation to Joy's personal life, questioned her family and friends, and discovered nothing out of the ordinary. No one seemed to have a grudge against Joy except for the person who had murdered her.

Yet, despite his alibi, Richard Atkins remained a person of interest in the case.

A Cold Case Starts to Heat Up

In April 2014, twenty-three years after Joy's vicious Murder, Bristol Township Detective, Michael Slaughter, was assigned Joy's cold case. Slaughter decided to pay April Atkins a visit, who said police had never interviewed her about Joy's Murder. April Atkins stuck with the story that her family had been vacationing that weekend in the Poconos and didn't hear about Joy's Murder until they returned home.

A few days later, Slaughter re-questioned Richard Atkins about his whereabouts at the time of Joy's murder. He corroborated his wife's story about camping and told Slaughter that he'd been a confidential drug informant in 1991, where he would make drug deals and then report back to authorities.

In May of 2014, Slaughter interviewed a co-worker of Joy who claimed on the Monday before Joy's Murder, a man called Joy at work and threatened to kill her. The co-worker never reported the call to the police because the investigation had shifted to Joy's husband.

Things Reach a Boiling Point

Jump forward another two years to September 2016. April Atkins headed to the Bristol Township police station to give a recorded statement about her now ex-husband's movements at the time of Joy's Murder.

April told Slaughter that Atkins had come home covered in blood, claiming he stabbed someone and set their house on fire. He told her to pack up the kids, get a few days off work, and head north to the Poconos. April stayed quiet out of fear. Atkins then placed his bloody clothes in the washer and took a shower. It wasn't until the family's return that April learned of Joy's Murder.

The Five-Month Grand Jury Trial Begins

Nothing substantial happened in Joy's case for another five years until November 2021, when Bucks County Detective David Hanks tracked down a co-worker of April Atkins back in 1991. Initially, the co-worker denied knowing April, but she changed her story when the DA s subpoenaed her to testify before a grand jury about the phone call she'd made to the Atkins' home. Richard Atkins' had answered when he was supposed to be camping.

Detective Hanks recorded a conversation between Atkins and his ex-wife April the following month. April let Atkins believe that she'd told her roommate about his involvement in Joy's Murder. This, of course, got Atkins' blood pressure up, and in April 2022, Atkin0's son testified that his father told him in December that he was probably going to get arrested soon for something that happened a long time ago.

Atkins initially told his son that a woman had died in a fire, then later mentioned that she'd been stabbed.

Then, in May of 2022, Robert Atkins was arrested thirty-one years after murdering Joy Hibbs. Atkins is currently housed at Bucks County Correctional Facility and is charged with first-degree Murder, second-degree Murder, seven counts of arson, and two counts of robbery in the death of Joy Hibbs.

Sources

Bucks County District Attorney's Office. "Arrest Made in 1991 Murder of Joy Hibbs in Bristol Township." https://bucks.crimewatchpa.com/da/29567/post/arrest-made-1991-murder-joy-hibbs-bristol-township

Ciavaglia, Jo. "'Living on Borrowed Time': A timeline of the investigation in the Joy Hibbs Murder in Croyden." Bucks Curriour Couty Times. https://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/story/news/crime/2022/05/27/a-timeline-of-the-investigation-in-the-joy-hibbs-murder-in-croydon/65357574007/

Holden, Joe. "Robert Atkins Charged In 1991 Cold Case Murder Of Joy Hibbs In Bucks County." CBS Philly 3, May 25, 2022. https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2022/05/25/joy-hibbs-1991-murder-bristol-township-robert-atkins/

Lorh, David. "Pennsylvania Mom's Brutal Murder An Enduring Mystery." Huffington Post. March 26, 2014. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/joy-hibbs-murder_n_4991710