Janice R. Andrews
A 71-year-old fugitive rape suspect was apprehended in Los Angeles on Thursday, capping up a manhunt that had lasted decades, following an hour-long, high-speed chase by the police. The defendant, identified as Stephen Paul Gale, had eluded authorities for more than thirty years, having fled following a string of violent crimes perpetrated in 1989 in Massachusetts.
Gale, residing under many identities such as Paul Costa, John Rossi, and Stephen Pisarcik, was sought for four rape charges, two kidnapping offenses, and one armed robbery count. These accusations date back to December 27, 1989, when two ladies were viciously attacked at a Framingham, Massachusetts business. Armed with a revolver, Gale reportedly broke into the Hit or Miss business and coerced the women into a back room where he sexually abused them. When Gale briefly left the victims alone, they were able to escape and made their way to an adjacent residence through a rear fire door.
Even with all the evidence left behind, Gale eluded arrest for years. The evidence was not used to generate a DNA profile until 2001, but no matches were discovered in law enforcement databases. Years later, forensic genetic genealogy—a relatively recent investigative technique—provided the breakthrough by connecting Gale to the murders and ultimately exposing his real identity.
Gale was formally identified as a suspect by the U.S. Marshals Service in May 2024, which heightened the investigation into the guy who is thought to have carried out comparable violent sexual attacks in the greater Boston region between 1989 and 1990. Investigators surmise that Gale successfully eluded law enforcement for more than thirty years while relocating across the nation and residing in many locations, including Las Vegas. Attempts to apprehend Gale are made more difficult by the possibility that he has connections to organized crime.
Gale’s protracted evasion of the law came to an end on Thursday when Los Angeles police discovered him in San Pedro. Authorities claim that when Gale disregarded LAPD officers’ signals to stop, a fast-paced pursuit ensued, winding through the Port of Los Angeles, up the 110 and 405 freeways, and into surface streets between LAX and the Westside.
After more than an hour of pursuit, the police eventually stopped Gale on Medical Plaza Drive in Westwood when he turned himself in and was surrounded by officers with their weapons drawn. The elderly suspect seemed to have trouble getting out of his car and standing up on his own, according to witnesses. After being thrown into the back of a patrol car for a short while, he was wheeled into a wheelchair and sent to a hospital to receive treatment for an unidentified illness.
Gale is anticipated to be arrested as soon as he leaves the hospital and will probably be extradited to Massachusetts to face the charges that have followed him for over 30 years. The arrest closes a long-standing cold case that has been unresolved for decades and gives the victims who have been waiting so long a sense of justice. It is a major success for law enforcement.
