The man accused of raping two female workers at a Framingham store in 1989 was held on two million dollars bail in California on Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office.
Stephen Gale, 71, a 71-year-old once known as the “Boston Strip Mall Rapist” was charged with one felony count of grand theft of personal property and two felony counts of check forgery before being held on bail of $2 million in Van Nuys District Court, the LA County DA’s office told Boston 25.
Gale was arrested following a car chase through the streets of Los Angeles earlier this month. Gale had been in a hospital since.
Authorities announced in May they had identified Gale as a suspect using new DNA evidence 35 years after he allegedly raped two Framingham store employees.
Authorities searching for man accused of raping 2 workers at gunpoint inside Framingham store
Gale entered the Hit or Miss store on Route 9 on the morning of Dec. 27, 1989, displayed a .357 magnum, and forced two female employees to the back of the store at gunpoint, authorities said in a press conference. He then allegedly ordered one victim to empty money from a locked safe and the second to lock the doors to the store before sexually assaulting them while holding the firearm to their heads.
Evidence collected at the scene ultimately helped investigators obtain Gale’s DNA.
A DNA profile was developed for the suspect and uploaded to the Combined DNA Index System in 2001 but there were never any hits identifying the suspect. In 2022, Middlesex prosecutors and the Framingham police contracted with Parabon Nanolabs to conduct an investigative genetic genealogy to develop new leads that could help identify the suspect.
Investigators developed probable cause to identify Stephen Paul Gale and issue an arrest warrant after assessing the results provided by Parabon Nanolabs and additional DNA sampling of his family members, according to Ryan and Baker.
Boston 25 Reporter Bob Ward spoke with both the Framingham victims, who did not want to be identified, about the relief these new details bring to the case.
“None of this has ever left our lives. This has always been a part of us. And it is time that this guy gets brought to justice and taken off the streets,” said Victim 2.
Gale was wanted on charges including four counts of aggravated rape, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of armed robbery. He has not been arraigned on those charges yet.
Gale will be formally arraigned in October and will be extradited to Massachusetts at a later date.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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