Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
Dateline NBC looks into the conviction of Joy Hibbs’ killer, Robert Atkins, three decades after the 1991 murder. The episode “Justice for Joy” will air this Friday, April 12, 2024, at 9 p.m. ET. A synopsis says, “When Joy Hibbs is found dead in a fire, an autopsy shows she was murdered beforehand. The case went cold for years, until decades later, a shocking secret is revealed.”
From the beginning, detectives suspected Robert Atkins, a neighbor of the Higgs family, of killing Joy Hibbs on April 19, 1991. The Bucks County DA’s Office reported that they believed Atkins stabbed and strangled Higgs because of a dispute over bad marijuana. He then set the house on fire to cover up the crime. Decades later, authorities arrested Atkins in connection with Hibbs’ murder. The case eventually resulted in his conviction.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, Joy Hibbs’ killer, Robert Atkins, is serving time in The State Correctional Institution at Camp Hill.
When did authorities arrest Joy Hibbs’ killer Robert Atkins?
NBC News reported that a jury convicted Joy Hibbs’ killer, Robert Atkins, on February 1, 2024. Jurors returned with a guilty verdict on one count of first-degree murder and two counts of arson. The next day, on February 2, Atkins received a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole, per CBS. The conviction came after authorities arrested Atkins in May 2022 in connection with Hibbs’s 1991 murder.
During the trial, prosecutors alleged that Atkins killed Hibbs, a 35-year-old mother of two, because of a dispute over bad marijuana. At the start of the case, detectives had learned that Atkins, who lived two doors down from the Hibbs, used to sell the victim and her husband, Charlie, marijuana.
NBC Philadelphia stated that Hibbs’ son, David, claimed he once heard Robert Atkins threaten his mother during a fight. David said that Atkins said to his mom that he wound “f—ing kill” and “blow up your house.” However, Atkins, while confirming that he fought with the victim, denied threatening her.
The DA’s report said that other neighbors placed Atkins at the scene of the crime. Police claimed that Hibbs’ murder took place sometime after 11:50 a.m. and before 12:50 p.m. Around that same time, neighbors claimed they saw a blue Chevrolet Monte Carlo outside the Hibbs home. Atkins owned the same car.
Additionally, Robert Atkins’ now ex-wife, April, alleged that on the day of Joy Hibbs’ murder, he returned home covered in blood and soot. April further claimed to have lied on his behalf at first as she gave an alibi for him. She later recanted the alibi, per NBC Philadephia.
The murder of Joy Hibbs occurred on April 19, 1991. Her 12-year-old son David returned home early from school to find their house on fire. Soon after, firefighters found Hibbs dead on the bed in David’s room. Initially, authorities assumed her death to be an accident.
However, two days later, an autopsy confirmed that Hibbs died of stab wounds and strangulation. Via the autopsy, a pathologist also ruled that she died before the house caught fire because the victim’s lungs showed no signs that she had inhaled smoke.
Dateline NBC‘s episode on the conviction of Joy Hibbs’ killer, Robert Atkins, airs on Friday, April 12.
