Man Accused in 1982 Bombing Hid as Deceased Classmate for Decades

Stephen Craig Campbell, alleged to have planted a bomb targeting his estranged wife's boyfriend, assumed the identity of a deceased university peer, Walter Lee Coffman, for nearly fifty years, according to U.S. officials.

Living under Coffman's identity, Campbell improperly utilized his Social Security number, acquired legal documents like a driver's license and passport, and even carried out real estate transactions. He further profited by collecting over $100,000 in federal retirement funds, reported the Department of Justice.

Authorities confirmed that Campbell had evaded capture after being accused of attempted murder in Wyoming, opting to disguise himself as Coffman, who had passed away in an accident in 1975.

U.S. officials ended Campbell's decades-long evasion last month with his arrest at his New Mexico residence in Weed. He now faces charges for passport fraud, among other violations.

In New Mexico, the U.S. attorney’s office charged Campbell, now 76, with adopting the persona of Coffman, a University of Arkansas alumnus who tragically died at the age of 22.

University records revealed that both Campbell and Coffman were contemporaneous students in engineering courses, suggesting they had likely acquaintance, the Justice Department indicated.

The revelation of this identity theft stunned Coffman's relatives. Sharon Ennis, Coffman's aunt, expressed to 40/29 News a sense of betrayal, indicating Campbell had tarnished her nephew's honorable reputation. She recounted that her nephew succumbed in a vehicular accident returning home from visiting his fiancée.