A man wanted in the 1989 rapes of two Massachusetts women has been apprehended after an hour-long police chase in Los Angeles on Thursday.
Stephen Paul Gale, 71, was apprehended after leading authorities on a chase, US Marshals Service spokesperson Brady McCarron told CNN. The chase began just before 4 p.m., as Gale drove at a modest speed on the 405 Freeway, respecting most traffic lights, according to CNN affiliate KABC.
According to the news release, Gale was charged with four charges of aggravated rape, two acts of kidnapping, and one count of armed robbery by Massachusetts officials in May.
Gale is suspected of sexually assaulting two female employees of a clothing store in Framingham, Massachusetts (about 20 miles west of Boston), about 35 years ago, according to a news release from Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan.
DNA evidence found at the scene assisted police in identifying Gale as the suspect through genetic genealogy, according to officials.
Genetic genealogy is the technique of mixing DNA evidence with traditional genealogy to determine biological relationships between people.
“This DNA evidence and the statistical results comparing the probability of relatedness provide probable cause to identify Stephen Paul Gale and led to the issuance of today’s arrest warrant,” according to a May news release.
“None of this has ever left our lives,” stated one of the victims to CNN station WFXT. “This was always a part of us. And it’s time to bring this monster to justice and get him off the streets.”
According to the news release, on December 27, 1989, Gale entered the Hit or Miss Store on Route 9 and forced two female employees to the store’s back. He forced one of the victims to “empty the money from a locked safe, the store’s register, and her pocketbook into a bag,” according to the release. He then forced the second victim to lock the store’s doors before forcing both women to take off their clothes and placing them in separate rooms, according to the release.
“He sexually raped both women while holding a gun to their heads. “When the suspect returned to the front of the store, the victims fled through the rear fire door to a nearby home,” according to the announcement.
The women, the manager of the Hit or Miss apparel boutique, who was 29 in 1989, and an employee, who was 18, spoke with CNN affiliate WCVB.
“He shaved extremely cleanly. He looked quite presentable. “He was wearing khakis, a casual jacket, and a shirt, not business attire,” the younger woman stated in a 2021 interview. “He made me crawl naked on my hands and knees into the rear office. And that’s where the assault occurred.
“One of the main memories that I have is he kept saying over and over again, ‘Don’t look at me, don’t look at me,'” recalled the woman.
The 29-year-old woman claimed she kept staring back at him. “Then he would hit me in the head with the gun and he would catch me and say, ‘Don’t look at me, don’t look at me, or I’ll blow you away,'” she told the television station WCVB.
After years with no fresh information or arrests, the ladies began to feel forgotten.
“I started this with some hope and it was just shattered, (it) dropped me down to a low level of disappointment and just feeling abandoned and worthless,” the former manager admitted to CNN. “It made me feel small and unimportant and just forgotten.”
McCarron told CNN that US Marshals from the District of Massachusetts began working on the investigation in February, at the request of the Framingham Police Department, Massachusetts State Police, and the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.
In a May X post, the US Marshals Service identified Gale as a suspect in the case, stating that he was most likely using various aliases, including Stephen Pisarcik, John Rossi, and Paul Costa.
A $5,000 reward was offered for information leading to his capture.
“I’d want to acknowledge the victims’ bravery. Without their continuous assistance and fortitude, we would not have been able to finally break the cycle of this heinous crime,” Framingham Police Chief Lester Baker stated in the announcement.
“It’s been a long time coming – over thirty years – and I’m delighted to finally be able to tell them and their loved ones that their efforts were not in vain. This crime has tormented the Framingham community for decades, but none of us have given up hope or forgotten about them,” Baker said.
CNN is attempting to confirm Gale’s whereabouts following his detention, if he has hired an attorney, and whether he is facing additional accusations.