He is been on the run for many years, needed for tried homicide after a bomb he allegedly planted injured his estranged spouse in Wyoming in 1982, based on authorities.
Now, 76-year-old Stephen Craig Campbell — who has been dwelling in New Mexico underneath the title and assumed identification of Walter Lee Coffman, based on the FBI — is in custody after a dramatic arrest final week.
Authorities stated Campbell’s double life started unraveling after a 2019 renewal of his driver’s license tipped off investigators that one thing wasn’t proper.
Stephen Campbell in police picture.
U.S. Marshals
Campbell had initially been arrested for tried homicide in 1982 after authorities stated he planted a bomb in a toolbox on the doorstep of his estranged spouse’s boyfriend. The bomb exploded when his spouse opened the toolbox, inflicting her to lose a finger and undergo different accidents.
Campbell, who was additionally going through a federal firearm cost in reference to that incident, was launched on bond in 1983 — after which disappeared.
That is when, authorities now say, Campbell took on Coffman’s identification.
Coffman, based on authorities, died at age 22 in 1975 and was buried in Sizzling Springs, Arkansas.
Investigators consider Cambell and Coffman had been each engineering college students on the College of Arkansas within the mid Seventies, “suggesting a possible connection between the 2,” based on a court docket submitting.
Through the years, Campbell was in a position to get hold of a driver’s license, U.S. passport and even a Social Safety card in Coffman’s title, authorities stated.
Authorities allege Stephen Craig Campbell, 76, had been dwelling underneath the title and identification of Walter Lee Coffman, who truly died in 1975.
U.S. District Court docket
Within the Nineteen Nineties, investigators stated, “Campbell tried to take away Coffman’s demise standing from Social Safety information by contesting the company’s report of Coffman’s demise” and by 1995, “succeeded in acquiring a substitute Social Safety card in Coffman’s title, utilizing a Muskogee, Oklahoma tackle.”
Campbell, dwelling as Walter Coffman for many years, even utilized for and acquired Social Safety advantages to the tune of $140,000, based on court docket information.
It was a 2019 New Mexico driver’s license renewal by Campbell, utilizing Coffman’s title, that apparently tipped off authorities, based on court docket paperwork
The renewal finally triggered a test by brokers from the Nationwide Passport Middle’s fraud detection unit. In 2024, these Diplomatic Safety brokers found Coffman had been lengthy lifeless and suspected his identification had been used fraudulently for many years.
Authorities allege Stephen Craig Campbell, 76, had been dwelling underneath the title and identification of Walter Lee Coffman, who truly died in 1975.
U.S. District Court docket
Final week, an FBI SWAT crew, with assist from Social Safety Administration brokers, Customs and Border Safety plane and Otero County Sheriff’s deputies, executed a search warrant at a 44-acre plot of land in southern New Mexico that Campbell is believed to have owned in Coffman’s title.
As brokers approached the residence, Campbell allegedly greeted them wearing camouflage, listening to safety and armed with a scoped .302 caliber FAL rifle, based on a detention memo filed in federal court docket in New Mexico.
Campbell “positioned himself in an elevated, partially hid spot” alongside a tree line as SWAT brokers approached in BearCats and deployed flashbangs. Campbell was initially unresponsive to callouts, however finally was detained, court docket report stated.
Prosecutors stated the rifle was loaded with high-powered ammunition able to piercing physique armor, with the scope caps open, and was prepared to fireside.
A photograph from Stephen Campbell court docket paperwork.
U.S. District Court docket
Upon looking the property, FBI brokers recovered a cache of weapons, together with 57 firearms and huge quantities of ammunition. Authorities additionally recovered fraudulent paperwork in Coffman’s title, together with a Social Safety card and a number of passport playing cards.
An examination of his fingerprints after his arrest later confirmed Campbell’s true identification, authorities stated.
Along with the unique costs from 1982, Campbell is now charged with misuse of a passport. Nevertheless, prosecutors stated they’re evaluating the potential for extra costs in opposition to Campbell.
At a detention listening to on Wednesday, Campbell was ordered detained pending trial, with the decide citing Campbell as a flight threat
