The husband of a Delaware woman whose 2019 murder remains unsolved has been arrested on a slew of assault charges after allegedly attacking his current wife and biting off her finger.
Benjamin Ledyard, 55, has been charged with second-degree assault, terroristic threatening, and menacing in the New Year's Day assault on Stephanie Ledyard, whom he married in 2021.
Delaware State Police say the New Castle County assault case is 'separate' from the homicide of Ledyard's previous wife, Susan Morrissey Ledyard, and 'has no bearing on our investigation at this time.'
Susan's body was discovered on July 23, 2019, in the Brandywine River in Wilmington, Delaware. Her murder investigation is 'still active and ongoing,' state police say.
Ledyard, who has not been named a suspect in Susan's murder, was arrested on separate assault charges on Sunday and is being held on $77,000 cash bond at the Howard Young Correctional Institution. He is set to appear in court on January 25.
Benjamin Ledyard, 55, faces assault charges in the attack on current wife Stephanie Ledyard, 54, more than three years after his previous wife Susan Morrissey Ledyard was murdered
In the most recent photo posted to Ledyard's Facebook page, he and current wife Stephanie Nixon Ledyard pose at Christmas just days before he allegedly assaulted her
Ledyard was taken into custody on Sunday after New Castle County police were called to the couple's home on Camp David Road in the Talleyville neighborhood of Presidential Estates.
The couple had gotten into an argument over loud music, and he allegedly chased her around the house swinging a pool cue at her, according to the police report.
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ShareStephanie Nixon Ledyard, 54, who had fled the house to call for help, was suffering from injuries allegedly caused by her husband.
According to the arrest warrant obtained by WHYY, Stephanie told police that Ledyard had been drinking while playing pool when she asked him to turn down the loud music.
The couple began arguing and Ledyard told his wife, 'Tonight I'm going to definitely give you a good beating,' before he picked up a cue stick and 'started swinging' it at her.
Stephanie told police that he chased her around the house with the cue stick and hit her with what she believed was a 'white square marble block with a black figurine on it,' the warrant said.
Ledyard then pushed Stephanie to the ground, grabbed her hair, and 'repeatedly smashed' her 'head into the hardwood floor,' she stated.
Officers wrote in the report that Ledyard 'refused' to speak with them.
The court documents also revealed that Ledyard was charged in a previous attack on Stephanie last summer, in which he allegedly bit off the tip of her pinky finger.
Stephanie told authorities at the Wilmington Hospital emergency room at the time that she injured her finger in a door frame, and that Ledyard was with her.
But this week, she told police this week that Ledyard had bit the tip of her finger off and told her, 'I think I swallowed it.'
Ledyard was charged on New Year's Day with first-degree assault.
The couple had gotten into an argument over loud music, and he allegedly chased her around the house swinging a pool cue at her, according to the police report
The court documents also revealed that Ledyard was charged in a previous attack on Stephanie last summer, in which he allegedly bit off the tip of her pinky finger
Ledyard's New Year's Day arrest comes more than three years after his previous wife Susan was found dead in the Brandywine River in Wilmington on July 23, 2019. Her car was found parked on Walkers Mill Road, about three miles upriver.
Susan's death was not determined to be a homicide until months later.
In September 2019, Delaware State Police said they did not believe Susan committed suicide, and said they were confident she did not enter the water where her car was found.
The state medical examiner's office determined Susan's cause of death to be blunt force trauma and drowning. In November, 2019, state police officially declared her death a homicide.
Ledyard had previously told police that he went to a movie the night Susan was last seen in July 2019. He said he came home and went to bed while Susan stayed up texting friends on the West Coast.
He told Dateline that he was awoken the next morning by Delaware State Police looking for Susan. They told him they found his wife's car.
Months after Susan's body was found, Delaware State Police labeled her death a homicide, saying she died from blunt force trauma and drowning.
Susan's sister Meg Morrissey Heinicke told DailyMail.com on Wednesday that they 'cannot comment on the recent arrest.'
'We want to remind the public that Susan’s case is an active, open homicide investigation,' she wrote in an email. 'We will continue to do everything in our power to help get this case solved. There is a $50k reward for information leading to an arrest. Susan’s family and friends love and miss her terribly and we will continue to fight for answers.'
The alleged assault happened more than three years after Ledyard's previous wife was found dead in the Brandywine River in Wilmington, Delaware in July 2019. Her murder is unsolved
Susan's family is offering a $50,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest in the case
Ledyard's family has created The Susan Morrissey Foundation in her honor which awards a cash scholarship to a student at Academy Park High School, where Susan used to teach before she was killed.
Susan was an English teacher in California and Pennsylvania for over 20 years and loved sharing her passion for the written word, according to the foundation's website.
In June 2021, the foundation gave out the first $2500 Susan Morrissey Ledyard prize for Achievement in English to Nicholas Manus, a student at Academy Park High School.
Academy Park High School seniors Rodney Brown and Jeannot Palimens were recipients of the 2022 scholarship prize.
Detectives continue to seek information from the public regarding Susan's murder and her activities in the hours before her death.
Anyone with information regarding this case should contact Detective Daniel Grassi of the Homicide Unit at 302 365-8441 or daniel.grassi@delaware.gov. Information may also be provided by calling Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-333 or via the internet at www.delawarecrimestoppersweb.com.
If you or someone you know is a victim or witness of a crime or have lost a loved one to a sudden death and are in need of assistance, the Delaware State Police Victim Services Unit/Delaware Victim Center is available to offer you support and resources 24 hours a day through a toll free hotline 1800 VICTIM-1. (1-800-842-8461). You may also email the unit Director at debra.reed@state.de.us.
A Timeline of Susan Morrissey Ledyard's 2019 unsolved murder
Susan's body was found at 7:39 a.m. on July 23, 2019 in the Brandywine River in the area of Northeast Boulevard with visible injuries to her body.
The cause of death was determined to be Blunt Force Trauma and Drowning. The manner of death was ruled a Homicide.
Susan was 5′ 04″, 130 pounds, with shoulder-length brown hair. She was wearing a purple tank top at the time of her death.
On the same day at 8:54 a.m., Susan's black 2016 Honda Civic was found parked adjacent to the Rising Sun Lane Bridge over the Brandywine River, approximately three miles upriver from the location where Susan's body was recovered.
Police later announced that based on the timeline and the course of the river, it is not believed Susan entered the Brandywine where the vehicle was parked.
Using video surveillance footage located in the area and her cell phone records, detectives could create a partial timeline of her activities.
Susan was active on her cell phone throughout the night, texting and calling friends until 2:45 am. At 3:02 am, Susan's car pulls out of her driveway, and approximately two minutes later, it is parked on Walkers Mill Road.
Based on the time elapsed, detectives believe the Honda drove directly from the house to the location where it was found.
Detectives confirmed through data from a Fitbit worn by Susan, she was alive until approximately 7 am.
However, her whereabouts between 3 and 7 am are unknown. Detectives also do not know what caused her to leave her home.
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