Linda Stevenson, the wife of Bill Stevenson, the ex-husband of former First Lady Jill Biden, was found dead at her Delaware home after police responded to a domestic dispute call on December 28.
Officers with the New Castle County Division of Police arrived at the residence on the 1300 block of Idlewood Road, in the Oak Hill community of Wilmington, at approximately 11:16 p.m. Police found the 64-year-old unresponsive in the living room. Despite police attempting lifesaving measures, Linda Stevenson was pronounced dead at the scene.
Bill Stevenson, 77, had called 911 about a domestic dispute before officers’ arrival. According to TMZ, Bill Stevenson was present at the residence when police arrived and pronounced his wife dead. He had called the authorities to report the domestic dispute. No charges have been filed at this time.
The Delaware Division of Forensic Science will perform an autopsy to determine the cause of death. Detectives from the Criminal Investigations Unit are handling the death investigation. Dispatch audio from the incident mentioned cardiac arrest.
Linda Stevenson’s daughter, Christina Vettori, initially suggested to the Daily Mail that the death was being investigated as a murder. However, the New Castle County Sheriff’s Office clarified it is being treated as a death investigation.
Linda and Bill Stevenson had been married for nearly four decades. The couple’s relationship began after Bill’s high-profile divorce from Jill Biden, who would later become First Lady of the United States.
Bill Stevenson married Jill Biden in February 1970. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1975.
During their marriage, Bill Stevenson opened The Stone Balloon in 1971, a bar that became a popular venue for students and live music. The establishment closed in 2005, serving as a cultural landmark in the college community.
Following her divorce from Bill Stevenson, Jill married Joe Biden in June 1977.
Bill Stevenson has suspected that Jill had an affair with Joe Biden during their marriage, according to the Daily Mail.
Bill Stevenson told the Daily Mail in 2020 that meeting Linda was the silver lining of his divorce from Jill Biden. “If it wasn’t for my divorce, I would never have met my wife Linda, and she’s the greatest thing in my life,” he said.
The former first lady had maintained no public connection to Bill Stevenson since their divorce.
Delaware, where the incident occurred, has long been home to the Biden family and served as Joe Biden’s political base during his lengthy career in the U.S. Senate. The state’s relatively small size means that many longtime residents have connections to political figures and their families, creating occasional intersections between past relationships and current events.
The Delaware Division of Forensic Science conducts autopsies as part of death investigations to establish both cause and manner of death. Cause of death refers to the medical reason a person died, such as cardiac arrest, while the manner of death classifies the circumstances as natural, accidental, suicide, homicide, or undetermined. This distinction is crucial for investigators and can determine whether criminal charges are appropriate.
The New Castle County Division of Police has jurisdiction over the Oak Hill community where the Stevenson residence is located. The department’s Criminal Investigations Unit handles complex cases requiring detailed follow-up beyond the initial response by patrol officers.
The investigation into Linda Stevenson’s death continues as authorities await autopsy results.
