The ex-husband of former First Lady Jill Biden was charged in his wife’s murder Monday, more than a month after she was found dead on the living room floor of their Delaware home.
Linda Stevenson, 64, had been found “unresponsive in the living room” in late December by police responding to a domestic dispute call and was pronounced dead after lifesaving measures did not revive her, authorities said at the time. Husband William Stevenson made the initial 911 call at 11:16 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 28, and was on hand when police arrived, TMZ reported, also noting that dispatch audio contained references to “cardiac arrest.”
The 77-year-old was indicted Monday by a grand jury and charged with first-degree murder in his wife’s death “following an extensive weekslong investigation,” the New Castle County Police Department said Tuesday. He was taken into custody “without incident” at the same home immediately afterward, according to a media release.
Unable to post bail, Stevenson was being held at the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution in Wilmington on $500,000 cash bail, police said.
Authorities have yet to release information on how Linda Stevenson died or revealed a cause, KTVU-TV reported. New Castle police said when she died that the Delaware Division of Forensic Science would conduct an autopsy, but they did not mention the outcome in Tuesday’s statement.
An online obituary for Linda Stevenson said only that she had “passed away unexpectedly” on Dec. 29 and that services would be held Jan. 16. She was remembered as “tenacious, kind-hearted, and fiercely loyal,” the obituary said. “Her strength, resilience, and unwavering love for her family and friends will never be forgotten, and her absence will be felt deeply by all who knew her.”
Stevenson’s obituary also noted that she was “deeply family-oriented and treasured time spent making memories, especially on family vacations with her daughter and granddaughter,” with no mention of her husband.
Over the past five years she had established BMB Bookkeeping, “a business she built with determination, integrity, and heart,” her obit said. “She loved her work and truly cared for her clients, many of whom became friends.”
Jill Biden was married to William Stevenson from 1970 to 1975 before marrying Joe Biden in 1977. The Stevensons wed a decade later and were married for about 40 years.