Robert Francis Atkins and Joy Hibbs (Bucks County DA’s Office)
A 57-year-old man in Pennsylvania will spend the remainder of his days behind bars for killing a 35-year-old mother and wife inside her home, stabbing the victim before strangling her to death with an electrical cord before setting her house on fire.
Common Pleas Judge Wallace H. Bateman Jr. on Friday ordered Robert Francis Atkins to serve a sentence of life in a state correctional facility without the chance for parole for the 1991 slaying of Joy Hibbs, authorities announced.
Following a bench trial that ended earlier in the week and included particularly damning testimony from Atkins’ ex-wife, Bateman on Thursday found the defendant guilty on one count of first-degree murder and two counts of arson over the horrific attack. In addition to the life sentence, Bateman also sentenced Atkins to 5-10 years on the arson charges.
According to a news release from the district attorney’s office, Bateman handed down the sentence following an emotional sentencing hearing in which several of Joy Hibbs’ family members read victim impact statements, including her husband and two children.
“Joy was my high school sweetheart, my first love, mother to my children, and the loving soul that kept our family together,” her husband, Charlie Hibbs, said on Friday. “The choice he made that day broke our hearts but strengthened us as a family. According to my faith, I am supposed to forgive, and I am finding difficulty in doing so. But I hope that Mr. Atkins lives to be a very old man and thinks about the choices he made that day and all the things he has missed while spending time incarcerated.”
Charlie Hibbs added, “As this nightmare comes to an end for my family, his is about to start.”
A break in the decades-old murder came after Robert Atkins’ ex-wife provided investigators with crucial information implicating him as the killer.
As previously reported by Law&Crime, investigators initially thought the fire at the Hibbs home was accidental, but an ensuing autopsy soon gave authorities reason to believe a murder and arson had taken place. Still, naming Atkins as a suspect proved elusive—even though he was “interviewed by police at least twice, but always denied any involvement in her murder.” One interview happened two days after the crime.
Another interview happened in 2014 after investigators “conducted a surprise interview” of Robert Atkins’ ex-wife, April Atkins, a few days earlier.
Investigators said that both April and Robert Atkins provided a story about taking a trip to the Poconos with their kids on the weekend of the murder. Robert Atkins allegedly only admitted having a dispute with the victim about marijuana, which he occasionally sold to both her and her husband.
However, in 2016, April Atkins came forward and made a “recorded statement implicating her husband in the murder of Joy Hibbs,” authorities said.
“She indicated the Friday Joy Hibbs was murdered, her husband, Robert Atkins, came home covered in blood and admitted that he stabbed someone and lit a house on fire,” a criminal complaint obtained by Law&Crime states. “She said she was told to pack the kids up and call out of work, and then they fled to the Poconos. She said that they returned home the Sunday after (which was) when she learned of Joy Hibbs’ murder.”
April Atkins said she didn’t volunteer this information before because she feared for her safety and the safety of her youngest son, Gabriel, who was still living with her ex-husband.
In December 2021, April agreed to participate in a wiretapped phone call. The “ruse” was to call Robert while a detective was listening and tell him that the police were close to finding out that he confessed. April Atkins told Robert Atkins that investigators were questioning her and a roommate she had previously confided in about Robert Atkins’ confession.
According to the complaint, Robert Atkins reacted by saying several things, the last of which proved to be 100% correct: “You already said a f—— enough, don’t say anything!”; “This ain’t China, they can’t force you to talk”; “They have the 5th Amendment for a reason”; “The phone is probably being tapped right now.”
April Atkins recounted her ex-husband’s confession and the phone call during her in-court testimony.
Matt Naham contributed to this report.
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