After 31 Years, Murder Trial Set In Croydon Mother's Death: Report

CROYDON, PA —The Bristol Township man charged in a 31-year-old murder is going to trial.

Robert Atkins, 56, of Fairless Hills, was charged in the April 1991 death of Joy Hibbs, his former Croydon neighbor.

District Judge Frank W. Peranteau Sr. held all charges against Atkins for the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas., according to published reports.

Those charges include first-and-second-degree murder, arson, burglary and robbery, the Bucks County Courier Times reported.

People magazine wrote in July about the mother of two.

Atkins was charged in May following a grand jury investigation. Hibbs was stabbed and strangled to death in her home in 1991.

According to prosecutors, Atkins was the neighbor of Hibbs and her husband, Charlie; he sold marijuana to the couple while he lived on Spencer Drive.

An argument involving money led to Atkins strangling Hibbs with a power cord before he stabbed her five times, according to prosecutors. He then set fire to the house, which destroyed much of the evidence of the crime.

Hibbs' son, David Hibbs testified before the judge Wednesday, according to the report.

Read the Bucks County Courier News story