Erie's killer officer calls himself "god" in 1991. Mental exam ordered

Michael M. Bibbs was 17 when he fatally shot Erie Police Officer Richard J. Burchick 33 years ago. Out of jail, Bibbs now faces charges of threatening to kill Erie police officers and a neighbor.

Michael M. Bibbs, 51, who killed Erie police officer Richard J. Burchick in 1991, pleaded guilty in August to threatening to kill a neighbor and several Erie police officers in April
Bibbs’ sentencing was stayed because he exhibited unusual behavior, including calling himself “the god” and “the creator,” and claiming he was unaware of his guilty plea.
Bibbs has a history of schizophrenia and the defense says his mental health has declined since his incarceration, leading the judge to order a mental competency exam at the prosecutor’s request.

Erie resident Michael M. Bibbs has served his entire 30-year prison sentence for fatally shooting Erie police officer Richard J. Burchick in 1991, and he pleaded guilty in August to new charges that he threatened to kill several Erie police officers and a neighbor in April.

Bibbs’ sentencing on the new charges has been stayed.

The sentencing has been delayed largely because Bibbs, 51, who has a history of schizophrenia, has taken to calling himself “the god” and “the creator” and appears unaware that he has entered a guilty plea, according to court records.

At the request of the Erie County District Attorney’s Office and the defense, Erie County Judge David Ridge on Thursday ordered Bibbs to undergo a mental health examination to determine whether he is competent to proceed with the case.

Bibbs spoke in a ‘bizarre way’

Ridge issued the order partly in response to what Bibbs said in court Monday when he was scheduled to be sentenced.

Appearing on an Erie County Prison video monitor for his sentencing, Bibbs said he wanted to withdraw his guilty plea. He said police informed him of the new charges, and that police knew what he had been doing for the past 103 years of his life.

“I spent 30 years in prison. They knew this was going to happen,” Bibbs said, apparently referring to police.

Bibbs has addressed himself as “the god” and “the creator” throughout the new case, and he again referred to himself as “the creator” during Monday’s hearing, where he “spoke in a bizarre manner consistent with schizophrenia,” said chief deputy district attorney. Jeremy Lightner said in a motion calling for Bibbs to undergo a competency exam.

According to Defense, Bibbs’ mental health has deteriorated recently

Lightner said in the motion that Bibbs also now appears not to realize that he pleaded guilty during a hearing before Judge Daniel Brabender in August. Brabender recused himself from sentencing because he had represented Bibbs as an attorney in Burchick’s murder.

Ridge was granted the conviction and he said Thursday that he would delay ruling on Bibbs’ request to withdraw his guilty plea until Bibbs has passed the competency exam. Bibbs’ attorney, Karen Klapsinos, an assistant attorney general who specializes in cases involving mentally ill defendants, also requested the exam.

Klapsinos agreed with prosecutors that Bibbs has become increasingly violent while in jail since his arrest in April — another reason why both sides agreed to a review of Bibbs’ competency.

“He has been off his medication since he has been in jail, and he is severely decompensating,” Klapsinos told Ridge.

Bibbs was not in court Thursday. He pleaded guilty in August to threatening to kill “multiple Erie police officers” after a confrontation with two officers outside his home in the 1200 block of East 20th Street on April 8 — an incident in which he also told police he was ‘a cop killer’. ,” plea documents show.

Police also accused Bibbs of threatening to kill a neighbor and other police officers while in jail at the Erie Police Department. Bibbs pleaded guilty to two first-degree felonies of terroristic threats and faces up to five years in prison on each charge.

Bibbs was not yet 18 when he killed Burchick

In Burchick’s murder, Bibbs shot the 39-year-old police officer after a traffic stop at East 21st Street and East Avenue shortly after 11 p.m. on February 5, 1991, killing Burchick the last Erie police officer killed in the line of duty. Bibbs was a week after his eighteenth birthday when the murder occurred and he was tried as an adult.

The Public Prosecution Service demanded a conviction for first-degree murder. The defense said the shooting was an accident that occurred when Bibbs and Burchick were wrestling with each other. Bibbs is in “the borderline of mental retardation,” the defense said.

Bibbs was convicted in October 1991 of third-degree murder, a premeditated killing with malice.

He was sentenced in November 1991 to 15 to 30 years in prison. At the time, it was the highest possible sentence for the three charges he was found guilty of: third-degree murder and two weapons offenses.

Bibbs was never released on parole. He was released from state prison on February 6, 2021.

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