No bail for man captured decades after allegedly raping 2 in Framingham

Local News

Stephen Paul Gale, 72, was arraigned Monday on four counts of aggravated rape, two counts of kidnapping and one count of armed robbery.

The man accused of raping two employees of a Framingham store at gunpoint in 1989 was ordered held without bail Monday at his arraignment in Middlesex Superior Court. 

Stephen Paul Gale, 72, pleaded not guilty to the four counts of aggravated rape, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of armed robbery he is charged with in the alleged sexual assaults at the Hit or Miss Store in Framingham in 1989. 

Gale was identified as the suspect in the long unsolved case in May 2024 and arrested in Los Angeles in August 2024. 

During a press conference Monday, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said authorities are “grateful” to have reached the moment of having Gale back in Massachusetts for his arraignment.

“Over the many years that this case remained unresolved, the victims, their families, and the community at large endured a painful and frustrating wait,” Ryan said. “It was marked by many false starts and moments of uncertainty.”

Gale is accused of entering the Hit or Miss Store on Route 9 in Framingham on the morning of Dec. 27, 1989 and forcing two female employees to the back of the store at gunpoint. He allegedly forced one to empty money from the store’s locked safe, register, and her own pocketbook into a bag. Authorities say he then forced the women to take off their clothes, placed them in separate rooms, and then sexually assaulted them both while holding the gun to their heads. 

The women escaped through a fire door and ran for help when he returned to the front of the store. 

Investigators collected forensic evidence at the time, and DNA information was uploaded to an online database for law enforcement in 2001. In 2022, Framingham police contracted with Parabon Nanolabs to use investigative genetic genealogy in an effort to develop new leads in the case. Eventually, DNA samples were obtained from known members of Gale’s family and checked against evidence obtained from the scene.

Ryan said law enforcement across the country worked to help locate Gale once he was identified as the suspect in the case, a task her office has said was complicated by his many aliases and his financial resources. 

“The defendant was very adept at setting up various kinds of companies, offering different services, making acquaintances with folks who frankly had lots of money,” Ryan said on Monday.

Gale was arrested on Aug. 8, 2024 after Ryan said authorities set up surveillance near the California Yacht Marina in Wilmington, California, where they believed he was living on a yacht. Law enforcement allegedly spotted Gale getting off the yacht and into a car, with the 72-year-old driving off when officers attempted to stop him. 

Ryan said a chase ensued, covering about 40 miles through the streets and highways of Los Angeles over about 82 minutes before Gale was ultimately arrested. After his arrest, multiple credit cards and IDs with different names were allegedly found in his possession.

Following his arrest, Ryan said coverage of the police chase resulted in a woman calling Framingham police to say she knew Gale as someone named “Paul Costa.”

“She explained that Mr. Costa had been hired by members of her family to oversee the daily and financial obligations, including the payroll, from a family trust,” Ryan said. “That trust had paid the defendants company over a million and a half dollars in the preceding 18 months, up until August of 2024.”

Ryan did not identify the family or the company, but the district attorney noted that the yacht he was living on was valued at between $750,000 and $1million. 

“He was very skilled at making connections with people, gaining their trust, being put in positions where he had lots of access to money,” she said during Monday’s press conference. “And being able to use that to maintain the life that he was living, essentially, undercover.”

Health issues delayed Gale’s immediate travel back to Massachusetts, Ryan said.

The prosecutor said his ultimate return for Monday’s arraignment shows her office’s commitment to resolving unsolved cases. 

“We do not forget, and we do not give up,” she said. 

Gale’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. He is scheduled to return to court on March 18.