A fugitive who evaded authorities for more than four decades after a 1982 bombing in Wyoming has finally been captured. The Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office shared in a press release that 76-year-old Stephen Craig Campbell was arrested last month at a remote property in Weed, New Mexico. Campbell had been wanted since 1982 on an attempted first-degree murder charge in Sweetwater County. For over 40 years, he remained a ghost—evading law enforcement, collecting government benefits, and living under an assumed identity until investigators uncovered his whereabouts. Authorities say Campbell planted a booby-trapped toolbox rigged with explosives outside the home of his estranged wife’s boyfriend in 1982. His ex-wife was not the intended target, but 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. 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, slipping into a new identity and avoiding capture for decades. According to court documents, Campbell assumed the name of Walter Lee Coffman, a former classmate who died in 1975 and built an entirely new life under that stolen identity. Campbell appeared in federal court 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.
