John Jefferson
A fugitive wanted for the attempted murder of his estranged wife more than 40 years ago has been captured after his con of assuming a dead man’s identity for decades finally unraveled, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.
Stephen Craig Campbell, 76, managed to evade authorities for years under a different identity and fraudulently claimed around $140,000 in retired social security benefits but was arrested in New Mexico last week during an armed standoff with police who found nearly 60 weapons at his residence, prosecutors said.
The alleged swindler was on the run for planting a booby-trapped toolbox rigged with explosives outside the Wyoming home of his estranged wife’s boyfriend in 1982, the DOJ said.
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When she opened the container, a powerful explosion tore off one of her fingers and sent shrapnel flying. The blast also ignited a fire, destroying the residence and a neighboring unit, police in Sweetwater, Wyoming said.
According to the Justice Department, Campbell was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder but was released on bond in 1982. Immediately after posting bail, he vanished.
A warrant was issued, but he disappeared without a trace, avoiding capture for decades by slipping into the identity of Walter Lee Coffman, who died in 1975 at the age of 22.
Coffman had graduated from the University of Arkansas just two months before his death. 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, the DOJ said.
Campbell first 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, prosecutors allege. He also swindled a replacement Social Security card in Coffman’s name in 1995 by using an Oklahoma driver’s license in Coffman’s name.
In and around 2003, Campbell relocated to Weed, New Mexico, where he bought a 44-acre property in Coffman’s name while continuing to renew the fraudulent passport.
His scheme began to unravel in 2019 when he went to renew his New Mexico driver’s license under Coffman’s name using a passport with Coffman’s name.
Agents from the National Passport Center’s Fraud Prevention Unit soon discovered Coffman’s death and the suspected decades-long fraudulent use of his identity.
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On Feb. 19, authorities descended on his property to carry out a search of his property in Weed, where they said Campbell was armed with a scoped rifle, positioning himself in an elevated, partially concealed spot.
After repeated orders and the deployment of flashbangs, Campbell emerged from the wood line and was detained. When recovered, the rifle was loaded with high-powered ammunition capable of piercing standard body armor and ready to fire, with the scope caps flipped open, the selector lever set to fire and a round chambered.
Authorities discovered 57 firearms and large quantities of ammunition at the property. As a fugitive, Campbell is prohibited from possessing firearms. He was then fingerprinted, which confirmed his true identity and fugitive status.
Jason Mower, a spokesperson for the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office reflected on the significance of Campbell’s capture, noting how the case had remained a constant presence in the department for years.
“Campbell’s wanted poster has been on the wall at our office since I started here nearly 20 years ago,” Mower said. “I’ve worked hundreds of fugitive cases, helping track down and capture fugitives all across the country. But never Campbell—every lead went cold, no matter what tools we used. Now, I finally understand why.”
Joe Tomich, undersheriff for the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office, emphasized the scale of the case, from its violent origins to the decadeslong search and dramatic resolution.
“It’s almost hard to wrap your head around this case—the cold and calculated nature of the original crime, the decades of searching, and then, after all this time, a tense standoff in the mountains of New Mexico,” Tomich said.
“We’ve all taken our turns trying to catch Campbell. I have a case file on him the size of a novel, filled with leads that went nowhere. But we never gave up, and now we finally know why he was always one step ahead.”
Campbell appeared in federal court Wednesday in New Mexico on fraud charges related to using a stolen identity.
If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in federal prison before extradition to Wyoming to stand trial for the 1982 bombing. The Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office has placed a detainer to ensure he is returned to Wyoming once federal proceedings conclude.
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