Fugitive Wanted for 1982 Bombing Has Been Living Under Deceased Classmate's Name for Decades: Feds

A California fugitive has been captured decades after allegedly carrying out a 1982 bombing — while living under the identity of a deceased college classmate, authorities say.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Mexico announced the arrest of Stephen Craig Campbell on Wednesday, Feb. 28.

Campbell, 76, was taken into custody on charges of misusing a passport on Feb. 18 at his Weed, N.M., home following a brief standoff with authorities.

Campbell, who was on the U.S. Marshals Most Wanted list for more than four decades, was sought on charges of attempted first-degree murder after he allegedly planted a toolbox containing a bomb that exploded at the doorstep of his estranged wife’s boyfriend in Wyoming in 1982.

According to a U.S. Attorney’s Office press release, Campbell’s wife lost a finger due to the explosion and suffered other injuries. The explosion also started fires in the residence and a neighboring unit.

Authorities alleged Campbell assumed the identity of Walter Lee Coffman, a 22-year-old University of Arkansas graduate, after Coffman died in a car accident in 1975, per CBS News.

“University records showed Campbell attended the same institution during that period, where both he and Coffman pursued engineering degrees, suggesting a likely connection between the two,” per the press release.

Campbell allegedly applied for a passport under Coffman’s name in 1984 and “renewed it multiple times, always providing a photograph of himself and his current address,” according to the release.  He also obtained a Social Security card in Coffman’s name in 1995 and an Oklahoma driver’s license.

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He also purchased a property in Weed in Coffman’s name, the release states.

Authorities said Campbell’s decades of alleged deceit caught up to him in September 2019 when he attempted to renew his driver’s license in New Mexico using the documents authorities claim were bogus.

Agents from the National Passport Center’s Fraud Prevention Unit became suspicious and discovered that the real Coffman died in 1975. Agents also learned that Campbell had collected around $140,000 in Social Security retirement insurance benefits using Coffman’s name, authorities allege.

While investigating, authorities discovered that Campbell was wanted by the US Marshals Service after he failed to appear in court in 1983 on the attempted murder charges, according to the release.

Authorities said in the release that during his arrest at his 44-acre property in Weed, Campbell, who was armed with a scope rifle “loaded with high-powered ammunition capable of piercing standard body armor and ready to fire,” had positioned himself “in an elevated, partially concealed spot.”

He was taken into custody after agents and officers used flash bangs. Authorities later allegedly found 57 firearms and large quantities of ammunition on his property.

“To think that after all these years that this person has used his identity for his own gain is so sad, so devastating,” Coffman’s aunt Sharon Ennis told CBS13. “It’s hard to take that this person would desecrate his name for his own gain.”

He is currently in custody, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. It is unclear if he has entered a plea or retained an attorney.