Wilmington, Delaware — William Stevenson, 77, the ex-husband of former First Lady Jill Biden, has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of his current wife, Linda Stevenson, authorities announced on February 3, 2026. Stevenson was taken into custody on Monday following a grand jury indictment after an extensive weeks-long investigation by New Castle County Police. He is being held at Howard Young Correctional Institution after failing to post $500,000 cash bail. Police responded to a domestic dispute call at the couple's home on Idlewood Road in the Oak Hill community

Wilmington, Delaware — William Stevenson, 77, the ex-husband of former First Lady Jill Biden, has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of his current wife, Linda Stevenson, authorities announced on February 3, 2026.

Stevenson was taken into custody on Monday following a grand jury indictment after an extensive weeks-long investigation by New Castle County Police. He is being held at Howard Young Correctional Institution after failing to post $500,000 cash bail.

Police responded to a domestic dispute call at the couple's home on Idlewood Road in the Oak Hill community around 11:15 p.m. on December 28, 2025. Officers found Linda Stevenson, 64, unresponsive in the living room. Despite life-saving measures administered at the scene, she was pronounced dead.

The cause and manner of Linda Stevenson's death have not been publicly released, though police dispatch audio from the night mentioned cardiac arrest. Her body was turned over to the Delaware Division of Forensic Science for autopsy.

William Stevenson founded The Stone Balloon Club near the University of Delaware in the early 1970s, which became one of the most popular college bars in the country, hosting acts like Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews, and The Allman Brothers Band.

Jill Biden, then Jill Jacobs, married Stevenson in February 1970 when she was 18 and a student at the University of Delaware. They divorced in May 1975 after she met Delaware Senator Joe Biden in March 1975. She married Joe Biden in 1977.

Linda Stevenson's obituary states she "passed away unexpectedly" and makes no mention of her husband. She had been married to William Stevenson for nearly 40 years. Representatives for Joe and Jill Biden did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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