After over three decades, authorities have identified a suspect in a brutal 1989 crime where two women were raped at gunpoint in a Framingham clothing store. Stephen Paul Gale, now 71, has been indicted on charges including four counts of aggravated rape, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of armed robbery, as announced by Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan. Stephen Paul Gale's DNA, collected at the 1989 crime scene, was matched through investigative genetic genealogy efforts by Parabon NanoLabs, helping to finally pinpoint the suspect.
Law enforcement officials have been working to methodically piece together Gale's whereabouts. They have determined he has lived across the country, including stints in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, and has ties to states such as Arizona and Texas. The U.S. Marshals Service is now offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to Gale's arrest. Marian Ryan noted at a press conference that it remains unclear if Gale can be connected to other similar incidents in the metropolitan area from the same year. "We are always looking and thinking about new ways to use evidence," Ryan said in a statement obtained by MassLive.
The attacks occurred on December 27, 1989, at the 'Hit or Miss' store in Framingham, Massachusetts. The female victims, aged 18 and 29, described their assailant's appearance to investigators despite being warned not to. This, combined with forensic evidence, developed a DNA profile but did not match any person until recent advancements in technology and forensic science reinvigorated the case. Middlesex County prosecutors and the Framingham Police partnered with Parabon NanoLabs in 2022 to reexamine the genetic evidence, which ultimately led to Gale's identification.
Framingham Police Chief Lester Baker praised the "courage and strength" of the two women who have lived with this unsolved crime for 34 years. Authorities are to share descriptions of Gale nationwide in their efforts to find and apprehend him. Gale, who stands six feet tall and weighs about 270 pounds, has used several aliases, complicating the search. "We do not stop working on these cases, they are never closed, and we do not forget what peolpe came into this county and did," Ryan expressed in a news conference covered by NBC Boston.
Officials are also seeking to question Gale regarding a number of other rapes that occurred in 1989 and 1990 in the greater Boston area. Details of Stephen Paul Gale’s last known whereabouts remain scarce, but the last confirmed sighting was reported at a family event in the U.S. in 2007. Anyone with information on Gale’s current location is urged to contact the Framingham Police Department or the U.S. Marshals tip line, as reported by WHDH News.
