Jill Biden’s Ex-Husband Charged With Murdering His Wife in Delaware

William Stevenson, the ex-husband of First Lady Jill Biden, has been charged with first-degree murder following the death of his wife, Linda Stevenson, at their Wilmington, Delaware home.

Police say the 77-year-old was taken into custody after a weeks-long investigation into the December 28, 2025 incident, in which officers responded to a domestic dispute call at the couple’s home in the Oak Hill neighborhood.

When officers entered the residence, they found 64-year-old Linda Stevenson unresponsive in the living room. Life-saving measures were attempted, but she was later pronounced dead at the scene. Her body was handed over to the Delaware Division of Forensic Science for autopsy, but officials have not yet released the official cause of death.

The New Castle County Police, working with the Delaware Department of Justice, presented their evidence to a grand jury, which resulted in the formal charge of first-degree murder.

Stevenson is currently being held at Howard Young Correctional Institution, unable to post his $500,000 cash bail.

Linda Stevenson’s obituary referred to her death as “unexpected”, noting her devotion to her family and passion for her work. Her husband was not mentioned in the obituary.

This case is now receiving national attention not just for its tragic nature, but because of Stevenson’s connection to the First Lady. He was married to Jill Biden from 1970 to 1975, during her early years as a student at the University of Delaware. The two divorced just before she met then-Senator Joe Biden, whom she married in 1977.

In her memoir, Jill described her marriage to Stevenson as a youthful mistake, saying, “I truly believed we were destined for each other... looking back it may seem like a mistake of youth.”

William Stevenson was once a well-known local figure in Delaware, having founded the Stone Balloon Club in Newark, a major music venue where performers like Bruce Springsteen played during their early careers.

While the First Lady has made no public statement regarding her ex-husband’s arrest, the legal process is now moving forward, and the case could shine an unwanted spotlight on a past chapter of her life one that, until now, had remained largely in the background.

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