Frank Rondel
The ex-husband of former First Lady Jill Biden, William Stevenson, 77, has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Linda Stevenson, 64, on December 28, authorities in New Castle County, Delaware, said, reports customreceipt.com via The Times. Stevenson was married to Dr. Biden from 1970 until their divorce in 1975.
Stevenson is currently held at the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution in Delaware after failing to post $500,000 cash bail. It remains unclear whether he has secured legal representation. Police have not released details regarding the circumstances surrounding Linda Stevenson’s death.
On Tuesday afternoon, several news vans and an unmarked police vehicle were stationed outside Stevenson’s split-level home in the working-class Oak Hill neighborhood of Wilmington. A black SUV and black sedan were parked in the driveway, while a wreath with pink, green, and white roses adorned the tan-colored house.
Stevenson first met Jill Biden in 1969 on a Delaware beach when she was an 18-year-old college freshman. They married six months later. “I truly believed we were destined for each other,” Dr. Biden wrote in her memoir, reflecting on their early years. She added, “Looking back it may seem like a mistake of youth.”
Raised near Philadelphia, Stevenson had ambitions of playing college football but eventually enrolled at the University of Delaware due to family circumstances, according to a decades-old local cable interview. In 1971, he purchased a bar in downtown Newark, Delaware, called The Stone Balloon, using a $14,000 inheritance from an uncle. Stevenson envisioned the venue as an entertainment hub for college students.
By 1975, just before their divorce was finalized, Dr. Biden began dating Joe Biden, who was then a young Delaware senator and had been acquainted with Stevenson, as noted in her memoir. Stevenson continued to face challenges with city authorities over construction permits, and local newspapers reported difficulties with taxes. He eventually sold The Stone Balloon, which permanently closed in 2005.
“Stevenson always seemed like an interesting person,” said Will Webber, who knew him since his early days running The Stone Balloon. “I never saw him mistreat anyone.”
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