After more than 40 years on the run, a bombing suspect accused of using a dead classmate’s identity to dodge law enforcement and claim government benefits has been arrested in New Mexico.
Stephen Campbell, 76, was initially arrested in Wyoming back in 1982 for the attempted murder of his estranged wife, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Mexico. Campbell, in his 30s at the time, allegedly planted an explosive device on the stoop outside her new boyfriend’s home — though she was the one who ultimately set off the blast.
Police said she arrived at the residence to find a toolbox sitting on the doorstep. When she opened it, the entire thing exploded, causing her to lose a finger “and suffer other injuries,” the statement said.
Campbell, who was also facing a firearms charge, vanished the following year while out on bond and a warrant was issued for his arrest. In a bid to evade capture, he allegedly assumed the identity of Walter Lee Coffman, a University of Arkansas graduate who died in 1975 at the age of 22.
Campbell graduated from the same school just two months before Coffman’s death and both men studied engineering, “suggesting a likely connection between the two,” according to the Attorney’s Office.
Authorities believe Campbell first applied for a passport under Coffman’s name in 1984, and went on to obtain a driver’s license and even a Social Security card in the following years. When he eventually relocated to Weed, New Mexico, in 2003, authorities said he again used the name of his late classmate, this time to buy property in the area.
His “scheme began to unravel” in September 2019, after Campbell presented fake documents at the DMV to renew his driver’s license. While he was able to walk away with a new ID, his visit still triggered a probe carried out by the National Passport Center’s fraud detection unit, which eventually uncovered Coffman’s death and the seeming fraudulent use of his identity.
The investigation also revealed Campbell had been a fixture on the U.S. Marshals Most Wanted List for more than four decades.
On Feb. 14, law enforcement officers spanning multiple agencies descended on Campbell’s New Mexico property. As they approached, Campbell, armed at the time with a scoped rifle, positioned “himself in an elevated, partially concealed spot,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
“After repeated orders and the deployment of flashbangs, Campbell emerged from the wood line and was detained.”
A subsequent search of the property turned up 57 firearms and “large amounts” of ammunition. Campbell, as a fugitive, is prohibited from owning guns.
In addition to his original charges, Campbell is also facing counts of misusing a passport, which comes with a punishment of up to 10 years behind bars.
Source: American Military News
