Jill Biden's ex-husband charged with killing his wife in Delaware
William Stevenson, the first husband of former first lady Jill Biden, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife following a reported domestic dispute at their Delaware home.
Years after airing his bitterness in public, the first husband of former first lady Jill Biden is now at the center of a far more serious reckoning.
William Stevenson, 77, of Wilmington, has been charged with killing his wife at their Delaware home in late December, authorities said on Tuesday. Stevenson, who was married to Jill Biden from 1970 to 1975, is accused of fatally shooting Linda Stevenson, 64.
Caroline Harrison, a spokesperson for the Delaware attorney general’s office, confirmed Stevenson’s past marriage to Jill Biden. A spokesperson for the former president and first lady said Jill Biden declined to comment. Jill Biden married Joe Biden in 1977. He served as US president from January 2021 to January 2025.
Stevenson remains jailed after failing to post $500,000 bail following his arrest on Monday. He faces a charge of first-degree murder in connection with the death, which authorities say occurred on December 28.
Police were called to the couple’s home after 11 p.m. for a reported domestic dispute and found a woman unresponsive in the living room, according to a prior news release. Efforts to save her life were unsuccessful.
Linda Stevenson ran a bookkeeping business and was remembered in her obituary as a family-oriented mother and grandmother who was also a devoted Philadelphia Eagles fan. Her obituary does not mention her husband, according to the Associated Press.
Stevenson was indicted by a grand jury after a weeks-long investigation conducted by detectives with the Delaware Department of Justice.
In his past public remarks, Stevenson had spoken harshly about his former marriage. In a 2024 interview with the conservative outlet Newsmax, he described his divorce from Jill Biden as contentious, calling her “bitter” and “nasty.”
Stevenson later founded the Stone Balloon, a well-known music venue in Newark, Delaware, in the early 1970s.