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Suspect in 1989 Framingham rapes caught in LA after police chase, authorities say
Authorities caught Stephen Gale, 71, after a three-decade long search ended in a car chase in Los Angeles.
Authorities caught the man allegedly responsible for a Framingham cold case from 1989 on Friday.
Stephen Gale, 71, was taken into custody after a car chase on the streets of Los Angeles.
Gale is accused of raping two store workers at gunpoint at the Hit or Miss Store on Route 9 in Framingham in 1989, Middlesex Country District Attorney Marian Ryan said. At the time, Gale allegedly entered the store brandishing a .357 Magnum handgun to the two female employees in the store. Prosecutors say he made one victim remove all of the money from the safe and forced the other to make a sign saying the store would open late. He then allegedly forced both victims into separate rooms, where he sexually assaulted them with the gun pointed at their heads. Gale then fled the scene, prosecutors say.
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He faces four counts of aggravated rape, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of armed robbery, Ryan said.
“After more than three decades it now appears that Gale’s attempts to evade justice have come to an end,” the DA said. “For the two women who were victimized by him in 1989, the wait for answers has been long and painful. While Mr. Gale has made significant efforts to conceal his identity, the efforts by law enforcement were even more relentless.”
Gale was on the run for nearly three decades, the statement said. His search turned into a cross-country endeavor involving multiple law enforcement agencies. Ryan said she is “grateful” for help from the Framingham Police Department, Massachusetts State Police, the U.S. Marshal Service, and “others across the country” who helped locate and arrest Gale.
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Authorities identified Gale as the suspect in May after “persistent investigatory work” led to a DNA match. Ryan said prosecutors and Framingham police partnered with a forensic DNA testing center in 2022 to revive the cold case. Using DNA taken from the suspect’s family, authorities concluded that Gale was responsible for the 1989 case.
“The commitment of everyone involved brought about a unified response, which, in turn, has successfully led to the apprehension of Stephen Gale,” said Framingham Police Chief Lester Baker. “This puts us one step closer to bringing justice for the victims in this horrific case.”
If you or someone you know is a victim of sexual assault, you can contact the national sexual assault hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673).
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