The Secret (Joy Hibbs)

Summary

Anatomy of Murder: The Unsolved Case of Joy Hibbs

Introduction

In the November 19, 2024 episode of Anatomy of Murder, hosts Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi and Scott Weinberger delve into the intricate layers of a tragic 1991 murder case from Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Joined by Jennifer Shorn, the district attorney of Bucks County, the episode unpacks the complexities of the investigation, the pursuit of justice, and the enduring impact on the victim's family.

The Crime: Tragedy Strikes the Hibbs Family

On the afternoon of April 19, 1991, the peaceful life of the Hibbs family was shattered. Joy Hibbs, a 35-year-old mother of two, was found brutally murdered in her home. What initially appeared to be a standard house fire revealed deeper, more sinister undertones.

Jennifer Shorn [07:02]:
"David went off to catch his bus for school and then Joy went about her morning routine."

As David, Joy's 12-year-old son, returned home, he discovered his mother's car still in the driveway and smoke billowing from the house. Upon investigating, he found his house ablaze, and firefighters tragically discovered Joy's ravaged body.

Initial Investigation: Arson or Murder?

Firefighters quickly identified multiple points of origin in the fire, raising suspicions of arson rather than an accidental blaze. The autopsy later confirmed that Joy had died from severe injuries unrelated to the fire, including stab wounds and signs of strangulation, categorizing her death as murder.

Jennifer Shorn [12:07]:
"Additionally, further examination revealed that Joy had suffered extreme injuries unrelated to the fire, including crushed ribs, multiple stab wounds, and even signs of strangulation."

Suspect Emerges: Robert Atkins

Early investigations pointed toward Robert Atkins, a neighbor whose aggressive demeanor and troubled background made him a person of interest. Despite initial suspicions, Atkins provided a seemingly airtight alibi, claiming he was out of town with his family on the day of the murder.

Robert Atkins [25:24]:
"Bob says they were out of town at the Poconos, which is a resort area for people in this part of the country."

However, inconsistencies in his alibi and his history as a narcotics informant for the local police raised further doubts about his involvement.

Cold Case and Renewed Pursuit

For over two decades, the case remained unsolved, haunting the Hibbs family and leaving them with lingering questions. In 2014, driven by a desire for closure, Joy's son David and the family turned to the media, reigniting interest in the cold case.

Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi [35:24]:
"The truth behind Joy's brutal murder was still buried somewhere beneath the ash and the secrets of this small Pennsylvania town."

A new district attorney, Matt Weintraub, alongside Jennifer Shorn, took up the case with fresh eyes, meticulously revisiting old evidence and uncovering new leads.

Breakthrough: April Atkins' Confession

The pivotal moment came when April Atkins, Robert's wife and a friend of Joy, broke her silence. After years of fear and abuse, April confessed that her husband had murdered Joy and set the fire to obscure his crime.

Robert Atkins [43:42]:
"He was making a threatening call, and I knew I had to prepare my kids for life without me."

April provided a detailed account indicating that Robert had orchestrated the murder, driven by motives rooted in his violent past and possible unresolved conflicts.

Jennifer Shorn [48:00]:
"April was willing to have her communications with Robert recorded. He was under the impression that the fire successfully covered up the fact that Joy was stabbed and strangled."

Trial and Conviction: Justice Finally Served

Armed with April's testimony and corroborative evidence, prosecutors built a compelling case against Robert Atkins. In 2019, Atkins stood trial, where his history of violence and the consistency of April's account led to his conviction for first-degree murder, arson, and robbery. He was sentenced to life in prison, bringing a semblance of closure to the Hibbs family.

Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi [57:06]:
"Robert set his sights on Joy. Was he motivated by her resemblance to his earlier victim or by a petty debt? The exact motive remains unclear, but the evidence was irrefutable."

Conclusion: The Path to Healing

The resolution of Joy Hibbs' murder case underscores the challenges of cold case investigations, especially when initial investigations are flawed. The perseverance of the Hibbs family and the dedication of the new investigative team ultimately triumphed, highlighting the importance of relentless pursuit of justice.

Scott Weinberger [57:51]:
"Robert Atkins was a violent individual who deliberately killed Joy and attempted to cover it up. Joy deserved much more than the prolonged uncertainty her family endured."

For Joy's family, the conviction marks the end of a long quest for answers and the beginning of a journey toward healing. The case serves as a testament to the complexities of criminal investigations and the enduring hope for justice.

Notable Quotes

• Jennifer Shorn [10:23]:
  "There was no cash recovered in the wallet. So clearly Robert Atkins was looking for money and he felt that the Hibbs family owed him money."

• Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi [35:24]:
  "The truth behind Joy's brutal murder was still buried somewhere beneath the ash and the secrets of this small Pennsylvania town."

• Robert Atkins [43:42]:
  "He was making a threatening call, and I knew I had to prepare my kids for life without me."

• Scott Weinberger [57:51]:
  "Robert Atkins was a violent individual who deliberately killed Joy and attempted to cover it up."

Final Thoughts

The episode of Anatomy of Murder meticulously reconstructs the harrowing journey to solve Joy Hibbs' murder, emphasizing the critical role of tenacious investigators and the unyielding spirit of a grieving family. It serves as a poignant reminder of the layers involved in unraveling a murder case and the profound impact such crimes have on those left behind.

Transcript

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[Jennifer Shorn]

It was pretty explicit. There's a fifth Amendment for a reason. You own them. Nothing. Don't talk.

[Scott Weinberger]

You do realize your phone's probably tapped, right? I'm Scott Weinberger, investigative journalist and former deputy sheriff.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

I'm Anna Seaga Nicolasi, former New York City homicide prosecutor and host of Investigation Discoveries True Conviction.

[Scott Weinberger]

And this is Anatomy of murder.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

The first 48 hours, every second counts. You may have heard phrases like this to describe how critical time is in solving a violent crime.

[Scott Weinberger]

As an investigator, speed really does matter. It's critical to speak to witnesses when their memories are fresh, to collect evidence before it disappears and question suspects before they have a chance to change their story.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

And for all these reasons, it's often said that for law enforcement, time is the enemy. And the longer it takes to solve a crime, the less likely it will be prosecuted. But that's not always the case. Sometimes time can be not your enemy, but your friend. And what can seem like justice delayed can prove to be the most effective path to justice served.

[Scott Weinberger]

For today's episode, we are going to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, a mostly rural area just north of Philadelphia, to highlight a crime that occurred way back in the spring of 1991. And to help us, we're talking to the prosecutor that would ultimately bring that case home more than 20 years later.

[Jennifer Shorn]

So I'm Jennifer Shorn. I'm the district attorney in Bucks County. However, I spent the entirety of my career, so 25 years prosecuting in this office, and it happens to be the county where I was born and raised as well.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

And it's no surprise that for me, one I hear career prosecutor, well, Jen had me at hello. But also I always like to learn about people's paths to their careers, be it prosecutor, detective or something else. And while not everyone we talked to could have predicted their exact career paths, it is interesting that they usually have all demonstrated a desire to serve their community in some capacity. And Jen is no different.

[Jennifer Shorn]

Upon graduation from college, I wanted to advocate for children. I wasn't certain in what capacity, and ironically, I was nannying for a family where the father was a fairly notorious criminal defense attorney. And he was the one that said, well, did you ever contemplate a law degree? If you want to advocate for kids, you may have a little more power in that capacity.

[Scott Weinberger]

And in her 25 years as a prosecutor in her home county and now as the district attorney, she has done just that, advocating for victims and their families, whether that fight for justice takes months, years, or in this case, decades.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

At the center of this story is a family, and at the heart of that family was a mother. Joy Hibbs was a 35 year old mom of two who was known for her kindness, her love of the outdoors and her distinctive Southern accent. One she and her husband, Charlie brought with them when they moved to Bucks county from their home state of Florida.

[Jennifer Shorn]

Charlie and Joy were sweethearts. A young married couple from southern Florida who relocated to the suburbs of the Philadelphia area for family and work and were raising their family, bought their beautiful little home in Corydon. And we're just living the American dream.

[Scott Weinberger]

And for Joy and Charlie, that dream included raising two kids, 16 year old Angie and 12 year old David, and working long hours to provide a supportive and happy home.

[Jennifer Shorn]

Charlie worked in construction and Joy worked for a physician, for a medical practice, as a medical assistant. They had friends and community relationships and, you know, they had the perfect life.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

So for Joy and the Hipps family, The morning of April 19, 1991 started like any other day. Charlie left for his job in the city while Joy got the kids ready for school.

[Jennifer Shorn]

It was normal morning. David went off to catch his bus for school and then Joy went about her morning routine.

[Scott Weinberger]

On Fridays, Joy had a later shift at work. So the day was spent buying groceries and stopping by the bank to cash some checks. Which if you're too young to remember, is the way we did it in the old days before ATMs and Venmo.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

At a little after 1pm, Joy's 12 year old son David returned home from school and noticed that his mom's car was still in the driveway.

[Jennifer Shorn]

It was report card day. So he was coming home from school so proud because he made high honors and couldn't wait to tell his mom, you know, about his report card. And he's walking up the driveway and he saw in the bay window of the home that there was smoke. And initially he thought my mom must have left something on the range. He thought, oh, she must have left something on and it's burning and she must be getting ready for work in her bedroom or in the bathroom on the other side of the house.

[Scott Weinberger]

But when David opened the back door of the house, he was immediately met with not just smoke, but with a wall of flames.

[Jennifer Shorn]

And David tries to get through the kitchen, There were flames everywhere. He starts to scream and yell, help. I need help, I need help. My house is on fire and my mom is in there.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

A neighbor called 911 and firefighters were quickly on the scene. They battled the blaze from room to room, eventually making it to the young boy's bedroom where they made an awful discovery. Jen still remembers hearing one of the firefighters describe the scene.

[Jennifer Shorn]

He welled up in tears. He was a young man, volunteer firefighter, saying, when we went into this room and we saw this body, you know, kind of Wedged between the bed and partially on the floor. It was devastating.

[Scott Weinberger]

Though severely burned beyond recognition, the victim was identified as 35 year old Joy Hibbs.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

News of the fire soon reached the local high school. And as Joy's daughter rushed home, she found her younger brother crying in front of the house.

[Jennifer Shorn]

And when she pulls down the street and she sees David's hysterical and he's being restrained by emergency personnel, that's when, you know, the realization that her mom was in the home.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

A short time later, their father and Joy's husband arrived home.

[Jennifer Shorn]

After Charlie arrives and he's told before he can even get to his kids at the blockade at the end of the street, and he just completely collapses in the street when he's told about his wife having passed in the fire.

[Scott Weinberger]

The cause and the origin of the fire was still unknown. But the discovery of Joy's body in her son David's room led to some painful speculation by her young son.

[Jennifer Shorn]

He had a computer cord plugged into where the aquarium was plugged into. And he thought that a fire must have started in his room because of the way he had everything kind of rigged, that then his mom was in there trying to save the animals or put out the fire, and that's what caused her death. So for the first 24 hours, he thought he was responsible for his mom's death.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

And what he must have put himself through mentally, in addition to the trauma about losing his mom, is more than many could bear. And to firefighters, there was some evidence that this devastating fire may not have been accidental.

[Jennifer Shorn]

The firefighters knew immediately that this looked suspicious. They were not able to determine if there was an accelerant used. It's apparent there's four different points of origin clearly set. And they were able to determine that the intensity of the fire was in the bedroom where Joy's body was.

[Scott Weinberger]

You just heard Jen describe four different points of origin. And what that means is firefighters noticed four separate places that the fire may be set. So it's unlikely that a fire started in a single location like a stove in the kitchen, the bedroom. If it was, you would not see ignition points in multiple places. So when you say four points, that tells you intentionality. And there was even more evidence in the kitchen.

[Jennifer Shorn]

One firefighter noticed that all four burners on the range was on, and it was clear that there was debris put on the range that was not debris falling from the ceiling after the fire started. So debris intentionally put on the range. So they knew, even though they were not the experts, that this was a suspicious fire. And that it was arson.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

Investigation would follow and in fact, investigators were able to conclude that the fire was intentionally set, which had significant implications because investigators now had to determine whether Joy's death in the fire was accidental or whether she could have been the intended target of a premeditated act of arson.

[Scott Weinberger]

That answer would come courtesy of the autopsy, which revealed some startling results.

[Jennifer Shorn]

Following the autopsy that the forensic pathologist determined that there was no smoke in her lungs, so she was not breathing at the time this fire was started. So it was apparent that she died prior to the fire.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

Additionally, further examination revealed that Joy had suffered extreme injuries unrelated to the fire, including crushed ribs, multiple stab wounds, and even signs of strangulation.

[Scott Weinberger]

All of which meant that not only was this a case of arson, this was murder.

[Jennifer Shorn]

And so the investigation it was clear that the fire was set with the hope of destroying evidence of the murder.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

What at first appeared to be a tragic accident had turned into a family's worst nightmare. A very much loved mother and wife brutally murdered in her own home.

[Scott Weinberger]

And with no suspects, no witnesses, and a crime scene that had literally gone up in flames, law enforcement had their work cut out for them.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

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[Jennifer Shorn]

The date was April 19th. To see in Bristol Township the Crime, Murder and Arson Tonight, the tragic and.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

Puzzling story of 35 year old joy Hibbs.

[Scott Weinberger]

In Pennsylvania, a devastating house fire had taken the life of a 35 year old mother of two, Joy Hibbs. But it turned out that the blaze was hiding something much more sinister.

[Jennifer Shorn]

So the firefighters and the fire marshal were already suspicious about the fire. But it isn't until the next day when the forensic pathologist performs the autopsy of Joy, that the police are made aware that she was in fact stabbed and likely asphyxiated, and that she also had blunt trauma.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

In other words, Joy had been murdered and the fire had been deliberately set to cover up the evidence of both how she died and who was responsible.

[Jennifer Shorn]

She's never hurt anybody in her life.

[Scott Weinberger]

And that's why I can't see the brutality of it. That was Joy's husband, Charlie Hibbs, speaking to a reporter on the local news. Joy's family was stunned by both the brutality of her death and the idea that their kind and loving mother would ever be the target of this type of violence.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

And that would have been one of the first questions investigators would have asked. Did she have any enemies? Was she involved in any recent disputes? Did she have a secret history of at risk behavior? Potentially. And the answer to these questions across the board was no.

[Jennifer Shorn]

Everyone who knew Joy said she was the most lovely, kind, beautiful inside and out woman. There was not a single person who said a negative word about Joy. It's pretty remarkable. Her name absolutely summed up who their mom was. You know, she was a Joy to everyone.

[Scott Weinberger]

So if Joy was not someone who was likely to be deliberately targeted, then my next question or thought would be whether this could have been random. Perhaps Joy was simply the unlucky victim of a robbery or home evasion that went horribly wrong and then turned violent.

[Robert Atkins]

Joy's wallet was found shoved in between the seat cushion and the back cushion on our, like, recliner in the living room, fully intact. Her purse, however, though, was clearly emptied in the kitchen and the contents were strewn about. So it was obvious that it wasn't just knocked over and things spilled out because of the firefighting efforts. It was like every piece of paper, every corner coin, every, you know, piece of candy was strewn about and emptied onto the kitchen floor.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

And remember, according to her husband, Joy had intended to go to the bank that day, so presumably she would have had money in that wallet or purse, but that money was gone.

[Scott Weinberger]

But then again, as far as they could tell, through the damage of the fire, there was nothing else missing from the house, so no drawers rummaged through or jewelry stolen. And I'll add that the massive injuries that Joy sustained before the fire was set were not typical of a home invasion. They seemed deliberate, prolonged, and even personal.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

As investigators began to dig deeper for any clues about potential suspects or a possible motive, Joy's family shared details of a series of troubling events that suggested that Joy's murder might not be random. For example, just a few months prior to the fire, a brick had been thrown through the Hibbs living room window.

[Scott Weinberger]

In another incident, their rear door had been kicked in and damaged, and Joy's car tires had even been slashed.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

According to Joy's husband, Charlie, they had kind of chalked up these incidents to vandals. But given Joy's murder, they obviously seemed a lot more relevant now and possibly critical clues to who may have perpetrated the crime.

[Scott Weinberger]

And so investigators, as they often do, turn to the neighbors to see if anyone had noticed anything out of the ordinary, not just on the day of the fire, but anytime over the last several months. And that's when they got their first lead.

[Robert Atkins]

A number of neighbors described that there was something unusual prior to the fire and that there was this blue Monte Carlo parked haphazardly.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

And while the blue Monte Carlo was unfamiliar to the neighbors, it rang a bell with Joy's 12 year old son.

[Robert Atkins]

Someone says to David, do you know anyone who would have been visiting your mom with a shiny blue, metallic blue Monte Carlo? And he goes, the only person I know who drives a car like that is April, my mom's friend April. From that and interviewing A number of the neighbors, they learned that, well, yeah, there was a family that lived two doors down, April and Bob Atkins, but they lost their house due to a foreclosure.

[Scott Weinberger]

According to neighbors, April and Robert Atkins only lived on the street for a short time and always seemed to be having a hard time making ends meet, especially with Bob chronically unemployed.

[Jennifer Shorn]

And Joy kind of noticed this and noticed that it seemed that April was a young mother, younger than Joy and overwhelmed. And so she took a real interest in the kids and became friends with April Atkins.

[Scott Weinberger]

But Joy's relationship with April's husband, that was another story. According to neighbors, Joy often gave April safe harbor in their home when things felt unsafe at their own home.

[Jennifer Shorn]

She was very kind and supportive to April.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

But there was also evidence that there was an ongoing conflict between Robert and Joy as well. In fact, it again was Joy's 12 year old son who recalled a recent incident which he overheard Robert Adkins screaming at his mom over the phone.

[Robert Atkins]

He said my mom had been receiving threats from Bob Atkins. He was in a series of arguments with my mom and my mom confided in me. But I overheard one phone call where Bob Atkins was yelling on the phone on his end of the phone, and David wasn't listening on the line, but was standing near his mom and he heard Bob Atkins threaten his mom.

[Scott Weinberger]

So here we have a man who lived in the area, was reputed to have a bad temper and had a history of conflict with our victim. Safe to say this was likely a.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

Strong person of interest, definitely someone who warrants a deeper look, especially when investigators realized that he was already known to local police as someone involved in the narcotics trade and now add criminal history to his profile.

[Robert Atkins]

Two officers go out who were narcotics officers. They know Bob Atkins because Bob Atkins was previously an informant for them in, you know, drug investigations in the drug trade. And as you know, police oftentimes use drug users or low level dealers as an informant to help identify higher level drug dealers. And Bob Atkins was their informant. So when it becomes apparent that one of the suspects is Bob Atkins, they go out to speak to him.

[Scott Weinberger]

And this is where the investigation kind of got a little sideways because there were a couple, let's say, irregularities in this encounter between law enforcement and Atkins, that had some pretty serious repercussions down the road.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

So first of all, when you hear that it was narcotics officers that went to speak with him rather than homicide detectives. So I thought about that, Scott. You know, first of all, yes, they had the relationship with him because he had been an informant but as we both know, it would be the investigators handling the case, in this case, the homicide, that would usually be the ones to go speak with him. So, again, it doesn't say anything in and of itself, but it does raise eyebrows.

[Scott Weinberger]

So when I first dug into this, the only thing I could think of was the fact that, as you said, they had a rapport, which perhaps could be an advantage because there's more trust between those narcotics officers and him. However, it should only be an introduction to the homicide investigators. And the reason is this was clearly a homicide case. And those two lanes, Anna siege, as you know, are very, very different. And most evident in the fact that the two officers from narcotics chose to interview Robert Atkins and his wife while she was present. They were together, opposed to separating them, hoping maybe by separating them, as you know, you can catch inconsistencies in his or her statements. So that is a problem from day one.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

And again, it could go to their inexperience because they are not those type of investigators. And unfortunately, I've seen this, you know, more than one or two, three times before. But they also then went on to tell Adkins that they'd be coming back for a full statement. And again, Scott, like, we know, like, that's never something you're going to do to give someone the heads up that they should really think out what they might need to say next.

[Scott Weinberger]

Yeah, when he walked into the next meeting, he kind of knew the deal. So as for an alibi, on the day of the murder, Robert Atkins told police that not only did he have nothing to do with it, but that he and his family were not even in the area.

[Robert Atkins]

Bob says they were out of town at the Poconos, which is a resort area for people in this part of the country. Pretty unusual in mid April to go up, but nonetheless that he claims they went up for a quick visit to the Poconos for the weekend and he doesn't know what happened. That's the extent of the details that they gleaned from Bob.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

The narcotics officers that questioned him left it at that. But they did make a note that proved to be important about Atkins appearance.

[Robert Atkins]

One notes, though, that Bob had an injury to his arm and he was covering up the injury with a sling.

[Scott Weinberger]

Later, when homicide detectives asked Robert Adkins to make an official statement at the police station, it was clear that he was prepared to dig in his heels and not cooperate with the investigation.

[Robert Atkins]

He refuses to take a polygraph. They attempt again to try to interview him. After a little bit of time goes by and he goes, no. My attorney told me not to take the polygraph and to not provide any more information.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

Furthermore, the witness that said she saw Adkins blue Monte Carlo parked in front of the Hibbs house, while that witness was no longer so sure, what we.

[Robert Atkins]

Know is by the time they tried to then bring the eyewitnesses out who saw this shiny metallic blue Monte Carlo, they drove them around to Bob Atkins's apartment. And this is several days after the initial interview of Bob by the narcotics detectives. And there was a black Monte Carlo there, and they pointed it out. Is that the Monte Carlo you saw? They said, no, that's not it. So I think detectives felt that was a huge setback.

[Scott Weinberger]

So did Bob Atkins really have a solid alibi? It actually appeared to check out.

[Robert Atkins]

Detectives had verified that, in fact, Bob and April Atkins and their two small children checked into a motel, a Pocono area motel, on that Friday, April 19th. That April was the one seen in the lobby, signed in. The clerk entered the time, and it was the family of four. They confirmed they checked out on Sunday at around 11. Something in the morning.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

As hard as it was for Joy's family to hear, investigators in Bucks county moved on from Bob Atkins as a possible suspect in Joy's murder.

[Scott Weinberger]

And in what must have felt like adding insult to injury, investigators turned their focus on someone even closer to Joy. Her own husband, Charlie. One of the most trusted language learning programs out there is Rosetta Stone. Rosetta Stone has been an expert in language learning for 30 years. With millions of users, a lifetime membership option, and 25 languages offered from French to Korean to Dutch. You learn to speak, listen and think in the language through an intuitive process. Learn on the go with Rosetta Stone mobile app or at your desktop with convenient, flexible learning. From my own experience, I have seen the benefits from becoming more familiar with the language when I'm traveling. Something as simple as understanding directions from the locals. But it goes much further than that. It can also help you stay safe, become even more aware of your surroundings and affect. If necessary, you can easily communicate with local officials and law enforcement. Don't put off learning that language. There's no better time than right now to get started. Our listeners can get Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership for 50% off. Visit rosettastone.com anatomy that's 50% off. Unlimited access to 25 language courses for rest of your life. Redeem your 50% [e-mail] anatomy today. When creating your own business, the most important part is your ideas. So why let the headache of registering your business. Hold those ideas back. Keep your business going and growing with LegalZoom. Setting up your business properly and remaining completely compliant are things you want to get right from the get go. But you don't have to strain your brain or wallet. Need some hands on help? Their network of experienced attorneys has your back. LegalZoom now you're in business. Launch, run and protect your business to make it [e-mail] and use promo code ANATOMY to get 10% off and leave LegalZoom business formation product excluding subscriptions and renewals expires 1231 24. Get everything you need from setup to [e-mail] and Use the promo code ANATOMY. LegalZoom provides access to independent attorneys and self service tools. LegalZoom is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice except were authorized through its subsidiary law firm LZ Legal Services llc.

[Robert Atkins]

We know Charlie left their home in Croydon passing the job site in the northeast because he had to check in in the Center City office.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

Eyewitnesses at Charlie Hibbs job site also put him there in the afternoon when he was told to rush home because his house was on fire. So it appeared that his alibi for the day of the murder was pretty airtight.

[Robert Atkins]

That said, they obviously wanted to make sure that sadly, you know, you always do have to look at someone's paramour to see if they had motive to do this and you have to look pretty hard.

[Scott Weinberger]

And at that point, investigators just could not rule Charlie out as a suspect because as we know, under the surface of even seemingly perfect marriages, there sometimes lies a variety of hidden motives, from financial issues to infidelity.

[Robert Atkins]

Unfortunately, then there was another little bit of a issue thrown into the mix in that one of Joy's co workers said that Joy was receiving threatening phone calls at her work, but she thought it was the husband.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

Pretty explosive allegations to be hurling in the wake of a woman's murder. But in a homicide, especially one that suggests the victim may have known her killer, investigators had to consider the possibility that Charlie Hibbs was harboring a secret.

[Scott Weinberger]

But the suspicion around Charlie may have had to do with something else.

[Robert Atkins]

Joy was this beautiful, very fine looking woman. And Charlie, who was a good man, hardworking, loved his family. But he looked like a biker. He was a biker. He was a motorcycle enthusiast who was in a social club that would do like the Toys for Tot Drive every Christmas, dressed in their leathers and, you know, driving their Harleys. Looked like they could possibly be a motorcycle gang.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

Charlie Hibbs had No history of violence, no criminal record. And most importantly, there was no recorded history of domestic abuse or even marital trouble.

[Robert Atkins]

Unfortunately, though he looked like he was a scary guy. He had a kind of gruffness about him. So this older woman said, well, I think it might have been the husband calling Joy.

[Scott Weinberger]

And so investigators put Charlie under the magnifying glass, interviewing him multiple times and subjecting him to multiple polygraph tests. He never changed his story.

[Robert Atkins]

Although Charlie was a suspect, he completely cooperated. His alibi checked out, and it was well documented just how he grieved, how he supported his children, the raw emotion, how he would break down every time they spoke to him.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

After months of scrutiny, Joy's husband was cleared as a suspect. But as the investigation dragged on and his wife's murder remained unsolved, he couldn't shake that cloud of suspicion that still followed him around.

[Robert Atkins]

They had cleared Charlie. I mean, Charlie, I believe, over the years, felt that they hadn't because the case went unsolved and felt like they must still suspect me.

[Scott Weinberger]

And he wasn't the only one feeling frustrated with the lack of progress in the case. As the years passed and no new leads or suspects were developed, Joy's children grew up without a mother and without answers regarding her brutal.

[Jennifer Shorn]

They knew that there were other investigative theories, but beyond that, they really didn't understand why the case went cold and remained unsolved for so long.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

You know, here, Scott, we talk about why cases go cold, and it's obviously for various reasons. But if we're looking here for a moment, first of all, there is the way that it was handled initially when it came to the neighbor, Robert Atkins, and the narcotics officers. Like, is there more there? And did they miss it, or did they not go further purposely? Like, these are all questions that must have been swirling at the time. And even if there is certain pieces of evidence that might be pointing in those directions, well, that's not enough to put handcuffs on someone and charge them. And they certainly don't seem to have anywhere near enough evidence to charge anyone at that point. And it really just was, you know, there was wall after wall.

[Scott Weinberger]

You just raised it. And I often get that question as why cases go cold. And I'll just say, I think it comes down to, you know, as far as I'm concerned, three factors. The first being lack of evidence. Sometimes there's not enough physical evidence to link anyone to a crime. The second is witnesses reluctant to get involved. They may be intimidated. They may be worried about retaliation. So they just don't want to step Forward. And then, of course, it's the third one, which is the passage of time. You know, memories fade. But more importantly, physical evidence can deteriorate. Even if it's been collected, as, you know, anestheica correctly or stored, it still happens. And you know, this. I've seen it myself.

[Robert Atkins]

So, yes, it goes cold. But Robert Atkins remained the one suspect that, based on just investigative impediments, like, you know, his refusal to further cooperate, the case went cold.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

And we talk about the passage of time. That's exactly what happened here, because we're going to jump not by months or even a few years, but forward to2014, when Joy's son David, at that point was 35 years old, which was the same age his mom was when she was murdered. And he still wanted those answers and the accountability for his mom's murder. So the Hibbs family did something that many victims families do. They turned to the media for help. They wanted to keep Joy's memory alive and also hoped to generate some new leads.

[Jennifer Shorn]

They were also working with a local reporter who did a Vinnie Vella from the Philadelphia Inquirer, who did a wonderful job trying to keep the case alive.

[Scott Weinberger]

Joy's son was also not shy about vocalizing some of the family's criticisms of the way Bucks county handled the investigation.

[Jennifer Shorn]

It was very effective. I mean, they were determined to continue to keep this on everybody's radar. And that was, quite frankly, when Matt Weintraub learned of it and assigned me and assigned a county detective out of our office to the investigation.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

And Matt Weintraub was the new da, so he and Jen, at that point, they'd never even heard of this case, which meant that the only place to start was right at the beginning. But it also meant that every detail, every clue, and every suspect would get a fresh pair of eyes.

[Jennifer Shorn]

When we learned of this case, and we learned of some information that was not conveyed properly and was not acted upon, and some things that had occurred, and he was faced with the reality of this case. We have the ability to prove this case.

[Scott Weinberger]

And so, with a new da, a new lead prosecutor, and a new team of detectives assigned to the case, Joy Hibbs unsolved murder became a top priority for the Bucks County DA's office.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

And for Jen, that meant making sure the Hibbs family was a top priority as well.

[Jennifer Shorn]

We answered as many questions as we could, but we assured them that we were going to use every resource to take another look at the investigation to see what we could do. I felt proud that he knew that this case was mishandled in the past, but wanted to put a team together that he trusted would give everything to the case and make sure that nothing was left unturned.

[Scott Weinberger]

And after reviewing the arson investigation, the autopsy, and all of the witness reports, investigators found themselves right back where they left off with April and her husband, Robert Atkins.

[Robert Atkins]

I still believe that when you ask anybody who really knew the case and worked the case, that Robert Atkins remained the only credible suspect.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

For clarity here, there had been some conflict of interest issues in the original questioning of Robert Adkins, which was handled by the narcotics detectives, as we talked about earlier, who also happened to be running him as a confidential informant. So there were even accusations that this relationship was too comfy and it actually led to him being let off easily.

[Scott Weinberger]

And so Jen and the new team of investigators felt the best way to rectify these irregularities in the original investigation was to go back over his alibi, to really stress test it every which way they could.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

Atkins alibi hadn't changed over the years. He still claimed that he and his wife had taken the kids on a last minute trip to the Poconos the same weekend Joy was killed and her house set on fire.

[Scott Weinberger]

He had also claimed he had been on a phone call with one of April's friends discussing carpooling arrangements during the exact time of Joy's murder.

[Robert Atkins]

He claims it was around lunchtime, around noon. However, it's later put forth this alibi when they go interview the woman about the alibi. She does say she called to speak to April and that Bob Atkins was there at their home. But she says it's, it's much later than what he claims.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

Unfortunately, because of the passage of time, the opportunity to pull the records was gone, which also meant losing the opportunity to prove that hole in Atkins alibi. So Jen's team of cold case investigators would have to do it another way.

[Scott Weinberger]

And part of the way they did that was to scrutinize the eyewitness reports that Atkins was seen checking into the Poconos Hotel on the day of the murder. And immediately there was another major discrepancy in the timeline.

[Robert Atkins]

Detectives had verified that, in fact, Bob and April Atkins and their two small children checked into a motel that was just shy of 5pm So 4:54pm on.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

That Friday, April 19, they didn't check in until nearly 5pm on the day of Joy's murder, possibly as much as five hours after medical examiners had estimated Joy's time of death, which hypothetically would.

[Scott Weinberger]

Have given them plenty of time to Set a fire, pack the kids in the car, and skip town. So in my book, Robert Atkins no longer had a viable alibi.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

When approached by police, April Atkins continued to back her now ex husband's story. But after years of increased scrutiny, she finally had a change of heart.

[Jennifer Shorn]

Two years later, she comes in holding that same detective's card, not asking for anything. It was incidentally September 11th. She had just lost a number of close loved ones. She was seeing a man who treated her with kindness, and he had just passed away. And it was the first time she ever felt that she was in a relationship where she was given respect. She had also lost her mother and another family member, a niece. And she realized she needed to do something, that there was a lie out there that she wanted to make right.

[Scott Weinberger]

Remember, April had once been Joy's friend, someone Joy had looked out for and protected when April was a young mom in an abusive relationship. But for 24 years, she refused to cooperate with police.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

But now she was ready to make it right.

[Jennifer Shorn]

So at that point, April gave, you know, a pretty detailed account of what occurred. And it was dramatically different than obviously, she said two years prior that her husband came home covered in blood and made a very incriminating statement and gives, you know, an account that clearly confirms her husband was involved in Joy's murder.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

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[Jennifer Shorn]

It is Sunday, September 11, 2016. It's about 6:28pm I am in the conference room with April Atkins. April, are you here by your free will?

[Robert Atkins]

Yes.

[Scott Weinberger]

In 2016, 25 years after the murder of Joy Hibbs, her friend April Atkins walked into a police station to make a shocking statement.

[Jennifer Shorn]

He tells the detective that she was awake getting ready for work the next day and had her two small children in their apartment. When her husband came home covered in blood and demanding that she get the kids ready and get ready, they were leaving. They had to get out of the air. And when she was fighting him as to why, not physically, but arguing with him. No, this is crazy. He said that he had stabbed somebody and lit a house on fire and that they needed to leave. So when Bob made this comment to you about stabbing somebody and lighting a house on fire, it wasn't while you were at the house on Spencer Drive?

[Robert Atkins]

No.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

While you were in an apartment.

[Scott Weinberger]

And then what kind of car did.

[Jennifer Shorn]

He have at that time? I believe it was a blood black Monte Carlo.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

According to April, she saw no option but to obey her husband's orders.

[Jennifer Shorn]

He made sure that I got the kids together.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

Who did?

[Robert Atkins]

Robert Atkins.

[Jennifer Shorn]

My husband at the time.

[Scott Weinberger]

Okay.

[Jennifer Shorn]

Scared the crap out of me, more or less. Gather our shit, get in the car and don't give me any trouble. She says she's panicked. She knows what he's saying is true because he is covered in blood and he has this menacing look. And given the abuse that she's endured in their relationship for years, you know, physical and emotional abuse, extreme physical abuse. She was not going to disregard what he said. She was going to follow his instructions. He got in the shower and threw his clothes in the wash and the laundry. She gathered the kids and they got in the car and they drove with no pre planned itinerary. They drove to a motel in the Pocono area and checked in for two nights. And they didn't really speak about what occurred. She made some assumptions, but they didn't speak about the specifics because she knew not to do that. She was terrified of her husband. Honey, I've been beat from hell and back by him even while I was pregnant.

[Scott Weinberger]

She went on to say that once in the Poconos, Robert was already making efforts to establish an alibi and cover up his crime. Starting with a walk into the woods.

[Jennifer Shorn]

So he's got a new pair of shoes on and he says, we're gonna go take a walk, and he's carrying a bag. She never knew what was in the bag. But they walk into the woods where there's a stream or a body of water. She describes. They walk pretty far into the woods till they get to this body of water, and then he disappears. Robert Atkins comes back to his wife and kids, no longer holding the bag. She never saw the. That he would commonly wear again. So she believed that he went out, obviously purchased new shoes. She knew that those shoes were newly purchased that he was wearing, and that he must have disposed of shoes in that bag when they went for a walk in the woods.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

Now, at the time of this impromptu Poconos getaway, April claimed she did not know who her husband had stabbed.

[Jennifer Shorn]

According to April, she knew that he was involved in drugs and drug trafficking, and she assumed that it was someone related to a drug dispute. Initially, she didn't know who the victim was, but it became apparent when she returned home that Sunday, and her good friend Joy was murdered.

[Scott Weinberger]

But one thing was clear. Her husband, Robert Atkins, knew exactly who he had killed and was convinced he would get away with it.

[Jennifer Shorn]

Mind you, all of the reports covering the house fire at the Hibbs home initially were reporting it as believed to be an accidental house fire, where a woman died as a result of a fire. And so the media really wasn't reporting on a homicide at all. And that was an important fact to me in looking at this case many years later. You know, why did they return? If they fled to the Pocono area, why return back to the area where the homicide occurred? It was clear that at that point, he thought he got away with it. He was under the impression that the fire successfully covered up the fact that Joy was stabbed and strangled. He was successful.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

This was a remarkable statement, albeit about 25 years later than it should have come. But people remained silent for different reasons. And April said she hadn't said anything for those decades out of fear for her life due to her husband's frequent threats and physical abuse. And let's not forget that they had two kids together, too.

[Jennifer Shorn]

She feared for her life, and she went into great detail as to how abusive her relationship was, that she had been strangled, beaten. And it was consistent with our information, as far as Robert Atkinson's tendencies, that he had a vicious temper, a very violent temper, and so she just complied, and she never spoke up until they were divorced, and she found the courage, many decades later, to come forward.

[Scott Weinberger]

So, obviously, prosecutors will build a case against Atkins primarily on April's statement, but that comes with a risk. How do you know if she actually is telling the truth?

[Jennifer Shorn]

She never asked for anything. There was a reward that was pretty well publicized. She never asked for that. She didn't ask for any type of help or assistance, Wasn't facing charges herself for something and where she was trying to walk off charges for, say, you know, a drug possession. She just came in on her own, put this out there, and then never asked for anything in return.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

And there's an argument to be made that she helped Adkins cover up his crime when she went with him to the Poconos. And that opened her up, at least in theory, and maybe her own mind, to potential charges. And based on that and her clear fear of Robert Adkins, not much for her to gain by giving this information to police.

[Jennifer Shorn]

She came in and, quite frankly, arguably put herself in the line of fire in that she admitted she did something pretty atrocious in that she sat on this information for decades and had this knowledge and did nothing with it, and as a result, allowed her husband to get away with murder.

[Scott Weinberger]

And despite April's bombshell statement, it would actually take another five years before Jen was able to present her case against Robert Atkins to a grand jury.

[Jennifer Shorn]

We take the work that was done and you build on it, and you look at can time be our friend instead of our enemy? Time can be your enemy in cases, witnesses, there's fatigue. If a case continues to be postponed and postponed once it's charged, Sometimes you lose the evidence that you have to prosecute because of lack of cooperation and witness fatigue. But on a case like this, it hit rock bottom. It ended up going cold, for lack of a better term, remaining unsolved for so many years. And now we were able to make time our friend in that people who were terrified of Robert Atkins because he was such a menacing figure, Some people matured and had the wisdom to kind of realize, okay, I need to make this right. I need to do the right thing.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

And at the top of that list was April Adkins.

[Jennifer Shorn]

April was willing to have her communications with Robert recorded. And April was living out of state at the time. So we had to bring her into Bucks County, Pennsylvania, have her set up in a hotel, but create this ruse that she was, in fact, at her home out of state, and that the police were knocking on her door and trying to interview her. And they left their business card, and the card indicated they wanted to speak to her with regards to the murder of Joy Hibernation.

[Scott Weinberger]

April then called her ex husband to say that cops were at her door demanding answers.

[Jennifer Shorn]

He was quite eager to give her some pretty clear instructions on what she should do in response to what he believed to be the police knocking at her door.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

And safe to say, it did not sound like the advice of an innocent man.

[Scott Weinberger]

You know, you call me with this and you don't even have to say anything. You've already already said enough.

[Jennifer Shorn]

He was pretty explicit. There's a fifth Amendment for a reason. You owe them nothing. Don't talk.

[Scott Weinberger]

You do realize your phone's probably tapped, right? So just to go over the circumstantial evidence against Atkins, Joy's son overheard him threatening his mother over the phone. A car similar to his was seen outside the Hibbs house on the day of the murder. April story that Atkins had actually admitted to committing the crime. And now a recorded conversation where he basically incriminated himself.

[Jennifer Shorn]

So everything is crystallizing. It's becoming apparent we have a strong case that Robert Atkins was responsible.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

And remember when Jen said that time was becoming her friend? There was actually another key witness who had time to rethink his loyalty to an abusive man like Robert Adkins, his own son.

[Jennifer Shorn]

One of the key things we did was we pulled his adult son into the grand jury to testify and he virtually admitted that his father admitted to the crimes. He was very reluctant and it was painstaking and it was like a physical impediment. It seemed that he had. He was struggling to get the words out. But after the questioning, when I was questioning him on the stand, he broke down and admitted that his father says to his son, police were at your mom's house out of state, trying to interview her about something that happened 30 years ago. I'm afraid I'm getting locked up and that I might be away for the rest of my life and I need to prepare you for the future without me. And he slowly starts to provide details to his son. The son doesn't say that his father said, I murdered a woman called Joy Hibbs and set her house on fire. But he says things like, my dad said, I think I did it. I think I did it.

[Scott Weinberger]

It was as close as Robert Atkins would ever get to confessing to Joy Hibbs murder.

[Jennifer Shorn]

When we put it all together, it was such a clear picture. There was no smoking gun. It was every piece of evidence meticulously being explained and put together made it clear that we had enough. There was enough prima facie evidence to arrest Robert Atkins and prosecute Robert Atkins for Joy Hibbs murder.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

After a lengthy presentation, the grand jury recommended charges of first degree murder, arson and robbery, leading to the arrest of Robert Adkins for the murder of Joy Hibbs.

[Scott Weinberger]

During the bench trial, the district Attorney presented extensive evidence and called numerous, numerous witnesses. And one of the topics that prosecutors touched on was what could have been the central conflict or motive that led Atkins to entering the home with an intent to kill.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

One theory was that Joy and Atkins had simply had a dispute over money, possibly related to the purchase of a small amount of marijuana.

[Robert Atkins]

There was no cash recovered in the wallet. So clearly Robert Atkins was looking for money and he felt that the Hibbs family owed him money. I think there's multiple motives in this case, but that was one of the theories that seemed to make sense, that there was a struggle over her purse.

[Scott Weinberger]

And over her wallet, and that certainly could have been the case. But something about the way in which Joy was killed, the viciousness, the overkill, it may point to a much darker motive than just robbery.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

And as it turned out, there was was evidence that Adkins may well have been motivated by more than just an old debt. And that evidence was buried deep in his criminal past.

[Jennifer Shorn]

We were confident in our case, but yet we were still always willing to consider any information that may be available. So after he was arrested, we had pretty large media response to the fact that he was arrested for this unsolved homicide. That's when we get information from his family members in Tennessee about what he did when he was a teen. He sexually attacked and beat within an inch of her life, his aunt. The remarkable response was they were literally shocked when they saw Joy's image in our press conference because it was the spitting image of their aunt.

[Scott Weinberger]

Not only did Atkins have a history of sexual violence, his first victim bore a striking resemblance to Joy Hibbs, right down to her southern accent and, you know, anesthesia. We've seen several cases where killers develop an obsessive focus on individuals who symbolize the person they harbor deep seated hatred or resentment towards. And it's a psychological redirection, and it plays a key role in how certain killers select their victims. For instance, they may have unresolved issues with a parent, a partner, or even an authority figure. And they channel that fury onto a stand in victim, which becomes a surrogate for their true object, for their rage.

[Jennifer Shorn]

We do know Robert Atkins had a temper that such a violent rage he would go into when he was angry over rather insignificant triggers. We also know, though, that he was a sexual deviant. And as we were investigating the homicide, we were gathering information about really deviant sexual acts that occurred when he was an adolescent age, things that would never be deemed admissible evidence, but gave us some real insight into Robert Atkins. I do believe without question, that there was a sexual component to this crime.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

And so, as her family always suspected, Joy Hibbs had been in her home that morning, not only defenseless, but unsuspecting prey to a true predator.

[Jennifer Shorn]

And incidentally, it was because of the person she was that she became friends with April Atkins and that started their association with the Atkins family. But it was Joy's love of kids and just wanting to be a kind neighbor to help another mother who was overwhelmed, that really allowed this predator into her home.

[Scott Weinberger]

In the end, prosecutors were able to paint picture of a violent individual who, for whatever the motive, deliberately beat, stabbed, strangled a defenseless woman and then went to extreme lengths to cover up his crime.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

The evidence of his prior crime against his aunt was ruled inadmissible at the murder trial, likely because it was too remote or overly prejudicial. The judge likely wanted to ensure that the jury base their decision on the evidence of this crime alone. And at the trial's conclusion, Robert Adkins was convicted of first degree murder and arson and sentenced to life in prison. And for the Hibbs family, a long, painful journey to seek the truth and justice for their beloved wife and mother was finally over. But of course, a whole other journey, one of healing, had only just begun.

[Scott Weinberger]

The cold case investigation into the murder of Joy Hibbs unveiled a disturbing reality, One that implicated the very agency responsible for seeking justice. As the new cold case detective dug into Robert Atkins, he discovered an unsettling truth. Detectives back then were treating Atkins with kick gloves. Why? Because Atkins was more than just an informant. He was their golden goose. His intel had led to some of the department's biggest, biggest drug busts. But this wasn't about drugs. This was about murder. And Joy Hibbs deserved so much more.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

Joy Hibbs, who got to know the Atkins family as she had reached out woman to woman, to try and help April, who she saw was overwhelmed and in a rough marital situation. Robert Adkins clearly set his sights on Joy. Was he motivated by her resemblance to his earlier victim and wanted to relive that crime by committing it again? Was he motivated over a petty debt relating to some marijuana? Or was he angered by Joy's kindness to his wife and decided to repay her attention and care by brutally taking her life? That answer will likely never be clear, but it is clear that Jen and her team of investigators and fellow prosecutors wanted justice for Joy Hibbs, and no amount, amount of time would stand in their way. An old case is never an easy case to try. The passage of time always presents additional challenges. The Hibbs family waited for those answers to come and they got them, albeit decades too late. I can't help but thinking a lot about Joy's son and how he walked in proud of a report card and was met by a sight he can never unsee, his mother dead in the fire. No person, and absolutely no child should ever have to go through that, and for a time he also thought it might have been his fault. We hope he has found healing and love over the years to help him through the many difficult days of losing his mom. And our thoughts are with all Joy's loved ones. And now this AOM community knows of and will remember Joy Hibbs for her kindness and willingness to try and help a neighbor in need. And that says so much about the woman she must have been. Tune in next week for another new episode of Anatomy of Murder.

[Scott Weinberger]

Anatomy of Murder is an audio Chuck.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

Original, produced and created by Weinberger Media and Frisetti Media.

[Scott Weinberger]

Ashley Flowers is Executive Producer.

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

This episode was written and produced by Walker Lamond, researched by Kate Cooper, edited by Ali Sirwa and Phil Jean Grande. So what do you think Chuck?

[Jennifer Shorn]

Do you approve?

[Anna Seaga Nicolasi]

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[Jennifer Shorn]

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