Ben Ledyard gets 2 years in prison for brutalizing third wife as second wife’s murder remains unsolved

Wife was ‘in and out of consciousness’ but he didn’t call 911

It’s not clear when Benjamin Ledyard and Stephanie Nixon began dating, but they married in September 2021.

Milecki’s memo said Stephanie indicated that Benjamin began abusing her before their marriage, and that on their wedding night, he “hit her so hard she had a hematoma,’’ a severe bruise.

It was just three months later that she called 911, and police arrested Benjamin Ledyard for assault.

Several other episodes occurred in 2022, including the incident where her fingertip was allegedly bitten off, and another where she needed surgery for a broken wrist and elbow.

That set the stage for New Year’s Day, which Milecki said was the culmination of days of abuse by Benjamin Ledyard, including repeatedly pushing her down and hitting her.

Milecki’s memo detailed the horror of the attack.

During the early morning hours of Jan. 1, Milecki wrote that he smashed Stephanie Ledyard in the head with a hardcover book and repeatedly smashed her face into the floor. Not only did he inflict a gaping head wound, but she suffered facial fractures and bruises, Milecki wrote.

The prosecutor noted during Friday’s hearing that Stephanie Ledyard initially told police he beat her with a marble block, but that authorities later recovered a bloody book that was deemed to be the weapon.

After the attack, Benjamin Ledyard didn’t call 911 but let his wife “wander the house while she bled profusely from the head, in and out of consciousness,’’ Milecki wrote.

When she was awake, she recorded herself begging him to call 911, as well as Benjamin Ledyarad telling her that “she fell and that he did not hurt her,’’ Milecki wrote.

Sometime after daybreak, when a neighbor saw her injuries and called 911, police and paramedics responded to the bloody crime scene at the sprawling home in Presidential Estates.

Benjamin Ledyard said his wife’s severe injuries were from a fall, but police placed him under arrest.

Stephanie Ledyard was taken to the hospital, where Milecki said the victim detailed the months and months of beatings and injuries, and how she attempted to cover them up because of threats he “made to her life and the life of her dog.”

Doctors and nurses at the Wilmington Hospital emergency room also documented old fractures in various stages of healing, Milecki wrote.

Couple seen together in March despite no-contact order

Benjamin Ledyard was held in prison for 10 days before posting $77,000 cash bail, and was ordered to have no contact with his wife, even if she reached out to him.

But late in the evening of March 3, he ran afoul of the law when he trashed an Airbnb apartment in Kennett Square, Pa., during a bloody domestic dispute with an unidentified “girlfriend,”’ police there said.

Milecki wrote that while Benjamin and Stephanie both denied that she was at the AirBnb with him, they were observed getting into the same vehicle in Kennett Square on March 5. When confronted with that information, Stephanie Ledyard acknowledged that he “may” have called her and that she also contacted him.

The damage, which cost $1,700 to repair and clean, included a hole in the wall that “appeared to be from someone punching it,” a kitchen door that was broken off, and blood on the carpet, bathroom curtain, and a towel, the warrant said.

The apartment’s owner told police that after Ledyard checked out, he reached out to her on the Airbnb app “to say he had a ‘boo boo’ while cleaning up the apartment.”

Police charged him in May with criminal mischief and disorderly conduct in that case.

Court records show that in July, the criminal mischief charge was dismissed but that Ledyard pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct.

Milecki argued that lengthy prison time was appropriate not only because of the “violent acts” against his wife but also for “his inability to follow the order of the court not to contact Stephanie Ledyard.”

“While she may continue to deny and minimize the abuse,’’ the prosecutor wrote, “the history of violence in combination with her desire to resume the relationship demonstrates a serious concern for her safety.”

But on Friday, Stephanie Ledyard told the judge she didn’t feel she was in danger any longer.

As her husband was led away by bailiffs to be taken to prison, Stephanie Ledyard had tears streaming down her face as she stood in the front row of the courtroom’s spectator’s gallery.

Benjamin Ledyard turned toward his sobbing wife and called out, “I love you, Stephanie.”

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If you or someone you know has been affected by domestic violence in Delaware, call one of the following 24-hour hotlines from the Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence for crisis intervention, safety planning, resources, and referrals: New Castle County (302-762-6110); Kent and Sussex counties (302-422-8058); and Abriendo Puertas (302-745-9874).