William "Bill" Stevenson, a Delaware businessman and the former husband of onetime first lady Jill Biden, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Linda Stevenson.
Linda Stevenson was found unresponsive in the couple's home after police responded to a reported domestic dispute late last year, authorities announced on Tuesday.
New Castle County police said detectives, working with the Delaware Department of Justice, presented the case to a grand jury Monday, Feb. 2, 2026.
A New Castle County Superior Court indictment followed, charging Bill Stevenson, 77, with one felony count of murder in the first degree.
Detectives went to the couple's residence in the 1300 block of Idlewood Road in the Oak Hill community and took him into custody without incident after the indictment was obtained, police said.
He was arraigned at Justice of the Peace Court No. 2 and committed to the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution after failing to post $500,000 cash bail, police said.
Linda Stevenson, 64, was found unresponsive in the living room of the home at about 11:16 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, according to a police news release issued during the initial death investigation.
Officers administered lifesaving measures, but she was later pronounced dead, police said.
Police indicated that detectives from the division's Criminal Investigations Unit responded and that her body was turned over to the Delaware Division of Forensic Science for an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death.
Authorities have not publicly released details about what evidence led to the indictment or any medical findings about the cause of death.
The police department's Feb. 3, 2026, update did not provide additional investigative details beyond confirming the indictment and arrest.
Court records did not immediately list an attorney for Bill Stevenson, and it was not immediately clear whether he had entered a plea.
His name has drawn national attention because of his past marriage to Jill Biden. Bill Stevenson and Jill Biden, then Jill Jacobs, divorced in 1975, and she later married former President Joe Biden in 1977, according to published accounts.
Bill Stevenson is also known in Delaware as the founder of the Stone Balloon, a Newark bar and music venue near the University of Delaware that opened in 1972 and has promoted its long history as a campus landmark.
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