The ex-husband of former first lady Jill Biden, who is charged with murdering his current wife, once described his spouse as “the greatest thing in my life,” according to reports. 

William “Bill” Stevenson, 77, was arrested Monday in connection with the death of 64-year-old Linda Stevenson following a weeks-long investigation, the New Castle County Division of Police said. 

Officers responded to the couple’s Delaware home on Dec. 28, 2025 for a reported domestic dispute when they found Linda Stevenson unresponsive. 

JILL BIDEN’S 2019 MEMOIR DESCRIBED BEING ‘DEVASTATED’ BY DIVORCE FROM BILL STEVENSON, NOW CHARGED WITH MURDER

She was pronounced dead at the scene. Her cause of death has not been revealed. Stevenson is being held in jail on $500,000 bail. 

The couple were married for nearly 40 years, according to an indictment obtained by PEOPLE. 

Stevenson married Biden in 1970 when she was an 18-year-old University of Delaware student and he was 23. The nuptials lasted five years before they divorced. 

Stevenson remained a critic of his ex-wife, but said he wasn’t “bitter” about the way things ended. 

“I’m not bitter because, if it wasn’t for my divorce, I would never have met my wife Linda and she’s the greatest thing in my life,” Bill told the Daily Mail in a 2020 interview. 

JILL BIDEN’S EX-HUSBAND CHARGED WITH MURDER IN DEATH OF WIFE

Bill has claimed Jill and former President Joe Biden had an affair before she was divorced, and that Bill introduced the pair in 1972. The Bidens have denied the affair allegations.

In a Facebook post, Linda’s daughter Christine Vettori described her mom as her best friend, saying the pair talked nearly every day and ate dinner together every Friday. 

“The pain of losing her is paralyzing and the emptiness in my heart is an abyss,” she wrote. “Most days I can barely breathe.”

Vettori noted that her mother had her at a young age.

“In a lot of ways, we grew up together,” she wrote. “We both were raised by a village of incredibly strong women, lead by love and determination to be the best examples of motherhood they knew.”

“Together we will honor her memory by seeking justice for her murder and never letting her legacy to be overshadowed by her murderer,” she added.