Stephen Craig Campbell, a fugitive wanted for the attempted murder of his estranged wife over 40 years ago, has been captured after his decades-long con of assuming a dead man's identity finally unraveled.

Campbell, 76, managed to evade authorities for years under a different identity and fraudulently claimed around $140,000 in retired social security benefits. He was arrested in New Mexico last week during an armed standoff with police, who found nearly 60 weapons at his residence.

Campbell was on the run for planting a booby-trapped toolbox rigged with explosives outside the Wyoming home of his estranged wife's boyfriend in 1982. The explosion tore off one of her fingers and sent shrapnel flying, also igniting a fire that destroyed the residence and a neighboring unit.

Campbell was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder but was released on bond in 1982. He vanished immediately after posting bail, slipping into the identity of Walter Lee Coffman, who died in 1975 at the age of 22.

Campbell first applied for a passport under Coffman's name in 1984 and renewed it multiple times, always providing a photograph of himself and his current address. He also swindled a replacement Social Security card in Coffman's name in 1995.

In 2003, Campbell relocated to Weed, New Mexico, where he bought a 44-acre property in Coffman's name while continuing to renew the fraudulent passport.

His scheme began to unravel in 2019 when he went to renew his New Mexico driver's license under Coffman's name using a passport with Coffman's name. Agents from the National Passport Center's Fraud Prevention Unit soon discovered Coffman's death and the suspected decades-long fraudulent use of his identity.

On February 19, authorities descended on Campbell's property in Weed, where he was armed with a scoped rifle. After repeated orders and the deployment of flashbangs, Campbell emerged from the wood line and was detained. The rifle was loaded with high-powered ammunition and ready to fire.

Authorities discovered 57 firearms and large quantities of ammunition at the property. As a fugitive, Campbell is prohibited from possessing firearms. He was then fingerprinted, which confirmed his true identity and fugitive status.

Campbell appeared in federal court Wednesday 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.