Standoff Ends in Arrest of Suspect in Abduction, 2 Killings

Authorities said a man obsessed with his teenage niece killed her parents and abducted the girl before releasing her unharmed Sunday. The suspect was arrested after a high-speed chase and four-hour armed standoff.

Robert Lee Hixson, 42, is charged with killing his wife’s brother, Myron L. “Butch” Bilger, and Bilger’s wife at their Pocono Mountains home before kidnapping their 13-year-old daughter, Hadley.

“There is some evidence of an obsession of a sexual nature with the 13-year-old,” Monroe County Dist. Atty. Mark P. Pazuhanich said. Hixson may have thought an arrest related to his relationship with the teen was pending, he said.

Hixson was arraigned on two counts of criminal homicide and sent to the Monroe County Correctional Facility without bail. Other charges were expected to be filed.

Hixson sat shaking in the chair during the brief hearing, quietly answering questions from the judge. Asked whether he planned to hire a lawyer, he replied, “I can’t afford one.”

Myron Bilger, 40, identified Hixson as the shooter before he died, said Pocono Mountain Regional Police Det. Harry Lewis. After the shooting Saturday night, the family’s 5-year-old daughter ran next door to get help while Hixson drove off with Hadley, police said.

Police issued a statewide Amber alert for the girl, who was wearing teddy-bear print pajamas when she was abducted.

That led to a 10:25 a.m. tip that Hixson’s red pickup truck had been spotted in Berks County, about 90 miles southwest of the girl’s home in Pocono Lake, police said.

Police placed tire-flattening devices in the roadway, disabling the vehicle after a high-speed chase. Hixson released Hadley about 11:25 a.m., but continued to hold police at bay.

During the standoff -- which took place outside a small market -- Hixson stepped in and out of his pickup truck, at times holding a shotgun to his chin.

Hixson’s mother-in-law said police who arrived at her house after the killings discovered that two of her husband’s weapons, including a shotgun, were missing from a locked cabinet.

The suspect had dropped his wife off at his mother-in-law’s home a few hours before the shootings.