Fugitive lived under dead classmate's name for 40 years, collected $138K in Social Security

A fugitive who was wanted in Wyoming on an attempted murder charge spent more than four decades living under the identity of a deceased former college classmate, according to the US Department of Justice. Stephen Craig Campbell, 76, assumed the identity of Walter Lee Coffman, who died in 1975 at age 22. Campbell first applied for a US passport in Coffman's name in 1984, submitting his own photograph and current address. Over the years he obtained government documents, bought property and fraudulently collected more than $138,000 in Social Security retirement benefits. The deception unravelled after a September 2019 driver's licence renewal, and FBI agents arrested him in New Mexico in February 2025. He was sentenced to 81 months in federal prison.Campbell became a fugitive after a 1982 bombing allegationAccording to court documents cited by the DOJ, Campbell became a fugitive after being accused in 1982 of attempting to kill his estranged wife's boyfriend. Prosecutors said he planted a homemade explosive device at the man's home. It detonated when Campbell's estranged wife opened the package, causing severe lacerations and the loss of one of her fingers. The explosion also started ...