Jill Biden’s ex-husband was arrested on Monday in connection with the killing of his wife, with authorities charging him with her death at their Delaware home in December, according to a report. William Stevenson, who was once married to the former first lady, has now been charged with first-degree murder in the death of his current wife, Linda Stevenson, 64.
Law enforcement officials allege that Linda was killed at their Oak Hill home, according to Fox 29. Police were called to the Wilmington home on December 28 after reports of a domestic dispute. Linda was pronounced dead the next day. Authorities have not yet released Linda’s official cause of death.
Behind the Bars
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Linda’s obituary said that she died unexpectedly and made no reference to her husband. The couple shared one daughter, Christina Vettori, who is herself a mother to a daughter named Ciara. Stevenson married Jill Jacobs in 1970, while she was still in college. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1975, and two years later she went on to marry then–New Castle County Councilman Joe Biden, who would later become president.
In later years, Stevenson claimed that Jill had been unfaithful and said he asked her to leave their home after learning of her relationship with Biden.
Police said they received a call about a domestic dispute at the Stevensons’ home on Idlewood Road shortly after 11:15 p.m. on December 29. When officers arrived, they found Linda unresponsive on the living room floor. Despite efforts to save her, she was pronounced dead at the scene in the early hours of December 30.
Investigators were later seen at the home in Wilmington’s Oak Hill neighborhood on December 31 as they examined what authorities described as suspicious circumstances surrounding the domestic dispute and Linda’s death.
No Way Out
Stevenson was arrested on Monday and charged with first-degree murder. After failing to post $500,000 cash bail, he was sent to the Howard Young Correctional Institution. In a 2020 interview with the Daily Mail during Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, Stevenson claimed that Jill Biden had an affair with the future president in August 1974, the same year the couple separated.
He said the two were working together on Biden’s campaign at the time, and that he began to suspect the relationship had turned romantic.
“One of her best friends told me she thought Joe and Jill were getting a little too close. I was surprised that she came to me,” he told the Daily Mail.
Stevenson said his suspicions were confirmed after a man told him that Joe had been behind the wheel of his wife’s car when the two were involved in an accident together.
“I asked Jill to leave the house, which she did,” he said. “Her father was begging me to take her back when he found out what was going on. He asked me to give her a second chance, but I wasn’t interested.”
Representatives for Jill told Inside Edition in 2020 that the affair allegations were “fictitious,” saying they were being used to “sell and promote a book” that Bill was preparing to release.
