DELAWARE — William Stevenson, the former husband of First Lady Jill Biden, has been indicted on a first-degree murder charge in connection with the death of his second wife, Linda Stevenson, late last year, New Castle County police said Tuesday.
Police responded in late December to a reported domestic dispute on Idlewood Road in the Oak Hill neighborhood near Elsmere. Linda Stevenson, 64, was found unresponsive in her living room and later pronounced dead. At the time of the investigation, no charges were filed.
On Monday, Feb. 2, a grand jury returned an indictment against Stevenson, and he was taken into custody shortly thereafter. He is charged with one felony count of first-degree murder and was arraigned at the Howard Young Correctional Institution after failing to post $500,000 bail. Authorities have not released Linda Stevenson’s cause of death and declined further comment.
Stevenson previously owned The Stone Balloon venue in Newark, Delaware, which hosted rock acts including Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, George Thorogood, and Cheap Trick. He met Jill Biden in 1969 and married her the following year; they divorced in 1975. About a decade later, he married Linda Stevenson.
Linda Stevenson was a mother, grandmother, and recently founded her own accounting business, BMB Bookkeeping. She was remembered as “tenacious, kind-hearted, and fiercely loyal,” according to her obituary, which made no mention of her husband.
Outside the Stevensons’ home, neighbors expressed shock. One resident, Patty Master, told CBS News Philadelphia, “They always left and went out to dinner. She was just as nice as can be, and he was, too.” A “Justice for Linda” sign was placed near the residence.
