HOT SPRINGS -- The arrest in New Mexico last month of a federal fugitive sought for more than 40 years on attempted murder charges came as a shock to a Hot Springs woman who learned the man is accused of using the identity of her deceased nephew, also of the Spa City, the whole time he was on the run.

Sharon Ennis, the aunt of Walter Lee "Butch" Coffman, who was killed in a car wreck in 1975 at the age of 22, told The Sentinel-Record on Wednesday that she was "totally shocked" when she learned of the Feb. 19 arrest of Stephen Craig Campbell, 76, who is accused of using Coffman's identity since 1984 without any of Coffman's family being aware.

According to a news release from the U.S. attorney's office in New Mexico, Campbell was arrested in Weed, N.M., "following an investigation that uncovered his decades-long use of a deceased man's identity to evade authorities and fraudulently obtain government benefits."

Coffman graduated from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, just two months before his death on July 27, 1975. University records show that Campbell attended the school at the same time, and both men were engineering majors, the release says.

Ennis said she had never heard of Campbell, and while he and her nephew "may have been acquaintances, I don't think they were friends. I don't know for sure, but I wouldn't think so."

Coffman was born in 1952 in Hot Springs to Marlon Coffman, Ennis' brother, and Betty Sue Williamson Coffman. He "grew up in Hot Springs," graduating in May 1969 with scholastic honors from Lakeside High School before going to college, Ennis said, noting that he was also in the Arkansas Air National Guard, following in the footsteps of his father, who was a 40-year veteran and a master sergeant.

Coffman was working for Arkansas Power & Light Co. at the time of his death, Ennis said, and was "coming back from visiting his girlfriend and was hit and killed instantly in a car crash."

The release notes that 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 had relocated to Weed in 2003, where authorities say he purchased property in Coffman's name and continued to renew his passport and ID.

In September 2019, the "scheme began to unravel" when he renewed his driver's license in New Mexico and agents from the National Passport Center's Fraud Prevention Unit discovered Coffman's death and Campbell's suspected fraudulent use of his identity, the release says.

The resulting investigation revealed Campbell received $140,000 in Social Security retirement benefits in Coffman's name, the release says. It was also learned Campbell was arrested in Wyoming in 1982 in the attempted murder of his estranged wife's boyfriend, planting a bomb that injured his wife and set fire to her residence and a neighboring unit, the release says.

Campbell was charged with attempted first-degree murder and other charges and later released on bond, but never appeared in court, resulting in warrants for his arrest being issued, the release says. He remained on the U.S. Marshals Service's Most Wanted List "for over four decades," the release says.

Ennis said she found out about the situation on Feb. 26 from a relative. "None of us had any idea. ... My daughter went online and found the story, which was huge by then."

Ennis said her nephew "was a fine, fine young man. I remember my brother telling me Butch would take his Bible and walk to Sunday school and church. His mom got kind of sick and I guess they weren't able to go as a family."

Ennis' brother died a month before the news broke about the stolen identity, which she sees as "a blessing from God that it worked out the way it did."

"Had my brother, his father, found out about this, he would have been devastated," she said.

She said Coffman's mother died less than three years after her son, adding that "she probably grieved herself to death," and was buried right next to him. Coffman's father later remarried and is buried between his two wives, near his son.

According to the release, after Campbell's arrest, a search of his property uncovered 57 firearms and large quantities of ammunition. He was initially charged with misuse of a passport, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, but authorities are "evaluating the possibility of additional charges" as the investigation progresses, the release says.

Authorities in Wyoming have also requested a detainer be placed on Campbell in connection with the attempted first-degree murder charges, it says.