Man Arraigned on Rape Charges for 34-Year-Old Rape at Hit or Miss Department Store in Framingham

WOBURN – Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Framingham Police Chief Lester Baker announced that Stephen Paul Gale was arraigned in Middlesex Superior Court on four counts of aggravated rape, two counts of kidnapping and one count of armed robbery for the sexual assault of two women at the Hit or Miss Store in Framingham in 1989. 

At today’s arraignment Gale was ordered held without bail.  The next court date is March 18, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. in Middlesex Superior Court.

On the morning of December 27, 1989, Stephen Paul Gale, entered the Hit or Miss Store on Route 9. He showed a .357 Magnum handgun and forced two female employees to the back of the store.  He made one victim empty the money from a locked safe, the store’s register and her pocketbook into a bag. He made the second victim lock the doors and put a sign on the front door saying the store would open late. The suspect then forced the victims to take off their clothes and placed them in separate rooms.  He sexually assaulted both women while holding the gun to their heads. When the suspect returned to the front of the store, the victims fled out the rear fire door to a nearby home.

Evidence was collected that led investigators to be able to obtain the suspect’s DNA.

In 2022, as part of the ongoing investigation into this case, Middlesex prosecutors and the Framingham Police contracted with Parabon Nanolabs to use investigative genetic genealogy in an attempt to develop new leads that could help identify the suspect. With this assistance and, after additional police investigation, DNA samples were obtained from known members of the defendant’s family.  STR profiles were developed and submitted to Bode Technology for comparison to the suspect sample.  This DNA evidence and the statistical results comparing the probability of relatedness provided probable cause to identify Stephen Paul Gale.

On August 8, 2024, detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Gang and Narcotics Division along with members of the United States Marshal’s Apprehension Task Force located Gale in Wilmington, California where he was residing on a yacht identified as “Dior.”  The defendant allegedly fled the scene and made several attempts to evade police including avoiding at least one set of spike strips. Ultimately, after an 82 minute pursuit that covered approximately 40 miles, Gale was apprehended.

This case was investigated by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, the Framingham Police Department, Massachusetts State Police Detectives assigned to the District Attorney’s Office, the Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section, the United States Marshals Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory. 

Assistance has been provided by Dr. Kenji Inaba , University of Southern California Medical Center, Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department Jim McDonnell, the Los Angeles Police Robbery-Homicide Division assigned to the US Marshal’s Apprehension Task Force, Parabon Nanolabs, the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, the Boston Police, the Boston Police Department Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) team, the Los Angeles Police Department Cold Case Homicide Unit, the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office, the Investigation Division of the State of Nevada, Office of the Attorney General and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

The prosecutors assigned to this case are Assistant District Attorney Katharine Folger and Ryan Rall.  The Victim Witness Advocate is Meaghan McCarthy.

These charges are allegations and all suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The full press conference on today’s announcement can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/2X8ESy32dbs?si=IENJKEywEr7VxM0O