Jill Biden’s ex-husband charged with murder in wife’s death at Delaware home

WILMINGTON, DELAWARE: The former husband of former First Lady Jill Biden has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of his wife following a reported domestic disturbance in Delaware, according to law enforcement officials.

Bill Stevenson was arrested Monday after a weeks-long investigation into the death of his wife, 64-year-old Linda Stevenson, who was found unresponsive inside their Wilmington-area home late last year.

Authorities say the charge stems from evidence collected after police initially responded to the residence in December.

Stevenson is being held without release after failing to post a $500,000 bail and is expected to remain in custody pending further court proceedings.  

Police respond to late-night domestic dispute

Officers with the New Castle County Division of Police responded to a residence in Wilmington's Oak Hill neighborhood on the night of December 28 following reports of a domestic disturbance.

According to police, officers entered the home and found Linda Stevenson unresponsive in the living room.

Emergency medical efforts were immediately initiated, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

At the time, authorities did not release details about the cause of death or the circumstances leading up to the call, saying only that the investigation remained active as detectives worked to reconstruct events inside the home.

Media reports later indicated that Bill Stevenson had contacted authorities and cooperated with officers during the initial response. No charges were filed at that time.

After more than a month of investigation, authorities announced Monday that Stevenson had been formally charged with first-degree murder. Police have not publicly disclosed what new evidence led to the arrest, nor have they released forensic findings, autopsy results, or details on whether a weapon was involved.

Stevenson was taken into custody at the same residence where his wife was found dead and transferred to the Howard Young Correctional Institution, where he remains detained.

A brief and distant chapter in Jill Biden’s life

Jill Biden married Bill Stevenson in 1970 while attending Brandywine Junior College. At the time, she was known as Jill Jacobs and later took his surname, becoming Jill Stevenson.

The marriage ended in divorce in 1975; she later married then-Sen Joe Biden in June 1977.

Stevenson went on to open the Stone Balloon, a college bar near the University of Delaware that later gained national recognition as a live-music venue. 

In later years, Stevenson publicly disputed aspects of the Biden campaign’s account of how Jill and Joe Biden met, alleging that they crossed paths while she was still married to him, claims the Biden camp has consistently denied.