Former first lady Jill Biden’s ex-husband was arrested and charged with murder in the death of his current wife, officials said Tuesday.
William Stevenson, 77, was taken into custody Monday and is facing a charge of first-degree murder in the death of Linda Stevenson, according to a grand jury indictment filed in Delaware.
New Castle County police did not provide details on the death, but an initial release had noted that officers responded to a domestic dispute Dec. 28 at a residence in the Wilmington area.
William Stevenson.New Castle County Police
Linda Stevenson was found unresponsive in the living room and died despite lifesaving measures by officers at the scene. The press release at the time said that her body was turned over to the Delaware Division of Forensic Science for an autopsy.
A cause of death was not included in the statement on William Stevenson’s arrest. The grand jury’s indictment Monday was the result of an “extensive weekslong investigation” into the death, police said.
William Stevenson is currently in custody at the Howard Young Correctional Institution after failing to post $500,000 cash bail, police said. It’s unclear if he has retained an attorney.
A representative for former President Joe Biden and Jill Biden did not immediately respond to an NBC News request for comment.
The then-Jill Tracy Jacobs married Bill Stevenson in February 1970, when she was 18 years old and a student at the University of Delaware, and he was 23.
Soon after, Bill Stevenson went on to open up The Stone Balloon Club, which became one the most popular college bars in the country near the University of Delaware in Newark, where the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Dave Matthews and The Allman Brothers Band played for crowds for decades.
Jill and Bill Stevenson were married for five years. In March 1975, she met a Delaware senator named Joe Biden. A civil divorce between Jill and Bill Stevenson was granted in May 1975.
Jill Biden tried to maintain a half-share ownership in the Stone Balloon but was denied.
