By Our Reporter
After nearly two decades of twists, retrials, and family heartbreak, justice has once again caught up with Linda Stermer, the Michigan woman accused of one of the state’s most chilling domestic homicides. Stermer, now 60, has been convicted for the second time of murdering her husband, Todd Stermer, in a deadly house fire in January 2007.
The Stermers had been married for more than 13 years and shared a blended family of five children, including Linda’s two daughters from a previous relationship, their two sons Trevor and Trenton, and a nephew they raised together. But beneath the surface of their picture-perfect life in rural Michigan, cracks had begun to show—cracks that would eventually turn fatal.
On January 7, 2007, a fire tore through the Stermer family home. Emergency responders found Linda outside the burning house, distraught but unharmed. Her husband, Todd, 42, lay on the ground nearby, badly burned and clinging to life. He died shortly after. Initially believed to be a tragic accident, the case soon took a dark and disturbing turn.
An autopsy revealed Todd had sustained blunt force trauma to the head and ribs, along with burns. Investigators also detected an accelerant on his body, suggesting he had been doused in gasoline. Blood was discovered on the van Linda was driving—leading authorities to believe she had run over Todd in her attempt to flee.
Linda’s story didn’t add up. She claimed she was doing laundry in the basement when she heard Todd scream. She said she ran upstairs, saw the fire, and fled in their van, assuming Todd was behind her. But her version of events changed repeatedly, and her sons testified that she had sent them to the cinema that morning and blocked them from saying goodbye to their father—a move they now believe was calculated.
Investigators uncovered further damning evidence: surveillance footage of Linda buying gasoline that morning, and a gas can found at the crime scene. A friend and former colleague, Kate Fox, testified that Linda had once talked about ways to kill her husband—including running him over with a car.
In 2010, a jury convicted Linda Stermer of murder and arson. She was sentenced to life without parole. Her sons turned against her, refusing to call her “Mom,” while her daughters defended her innocence.
After nine years behind bars, Stermer’s conviction was overturned in 2018. A judge ruled she had not received a fair trial due to her defense team’s failure to call a fire expert and concerns over the reliability of Kate Fox’s testimony. In 2020, a federal court ordered a retrial.
That retrial began in May this year. Trevor Stermer again took the stand, describing the explosive argument his parents had the night before the fire and his mother’s instructions to lie about it afterward. The defense argued that investigators had rushed to judgment and built a case around speculation. But the jury once more disagreed.
Linda Stermer was again found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
During the sentencing, Todd’s grieving family gave emotional victim impact statements. His mother, Sandra, tearfully told the court: “It breaks my heart that Todd never lived to see his boys grow into men or meet his six beautiful grandchildren.”
Linda Stermer, maintaining her innocence to the end, was led away in handcuffs—closing the final chapter in a tragic case that has haunted a family, and a community, for nearly 20 years.