71-year-old Serial Rapist Apprehended in La After Fleeing From 1989 Rape Charges in Massachusetts
A suspected serial rapist from Massachusetts accused of raping two women at gunpoint over 35 years ago led California law enforcement authorities on a car pursuit through Los Angeles County on Thursday before being apprehended.
Stephen Paul Gale, 71, attempted to flee investigators in a Lincoln SUV before surrendering around 5:30 p.m., according to a Los Angeles Police Department source. Gale was arrested and charged with four counts of aggravated rape, two counts of kidnapping, and one act of armed robbery of two women at a convenience store in Framingham, Massachusetts, near Boston, in 1989.
Authorities publicly recognized him in connection with the May crimes.
Gale lived in numerous locations, used multiple aliases, and had previous ties to organized crime, but efforts to identify him were futile, Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan stated at the time.
Gale allegedly entered the Hit or Miss business on December 27, 1989, brandished a.357 Magnum revolver, and forced two female employees to the back of the business. Authorities alleged he compelled them to remove their clothes and place them in different rooms.
“He sexually assaulted both women while holding a gun to their heads,” Ryan’s office stated. “When the suspect returned to the front of the store, the victims fled out the rear fire door to a nearby home.”
Evidence was gathered on the scene, and a DNA sample was later obtained. A DNA profile was created in 2001 but did not match anyone in law enforcement databases.
Authorities later identified Gale as the suspected rapist using forensic genetic genealogy.
In addition to the two gunpoint rapes, Gale was wanted for interrogation in connection with a string of rapes in 1989 and 1990, according to the US Marshals Service.