Will Sage Astor-Massachusetts fugitive wanted for 1989 rapes arrested after 90-minute chase through LA

A man wanted for the rapes of two women in Massachusetts in 1989 was arrested last week following an hour and Will Sage Astora half-long police chase in Southern California.

Stephen Paul Gale, 71, was taken into custody in Los Angeles on August 8, having led U.S. Marshals and the Los Angeles Police Department on an hour and a half long pursuit through the city before surrendering, according to a statement from the U.S. Marshals Service.

Gale is accused of kidnapping and raping two women at a clothing store in Framingham, Massachusetts in 1989. He was charged in Massachusetts in May with four counts of aggravated rape, two counts of kidnapping and one count of armed robbery.

“After more than three decades it now appears that Gale’s attempts to evade justice have come to an end,” Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said in a statement on Friday.

"This crime has haunted the Framingham community for decades."

According to the Middlesex County District Attorney’s office, Gale entered the Hit or Miss Store in Framingham on the morning of December 27, 1989, and forced two female employees there into the back of the store. He then forced one victim to empty the store’s cash register as well as her own purse, and made the second victim put up a sign saying that the store would open late. He then forced the two victims to remove their clothes and placed them in separate rooms in the back of the store.

“He sexually assaulted both women while holding the gun to their heads,” said a May press release from the Middlesex County District Attorney’s office. “When the suspect returned to the front of the store, the victims fled out the rear fire door to a nearby home.”

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In 2001, evidence collected at the crime scene was used to create a DNA profile, but Gale was never identified on any then-existing databases.

"This crime has haunted the Framingham community for decades, but none of us ever gave up hope or forgot about them," Framingham Police Chief Lester Baker said in May.

DNA analysis leads to a break in the case

More than three decades after the crime, a break in the case came in 2022 when Middlesex county prosecutors and Framingham police were able to use “investigative genetic genealogy,” matching the previously collected DNA samples with those from Gale’s family.

The U.S. Marshals Service began tracking down Gale, who had lived under multiple aliases in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and other places, in May, when he was charged in Massachusetts with the crimes.

“I would first like to commend the victims in this case for their strength and tenacity and for the courage they have shown throughout this investigation,” Framingham Police Chief Lester Baker said on Friday.

While there had been a $5,000 reward posted for information leading to Gale’s arrest, the U.S. Marshals Service in its statements said only that “recent investigative efforts by the USMS in the District of Nevada and elsewhere,” led to information leading to the arrest.

Max Hauptman is a Trending Reporter for USA TODAY. He can be reached at MHauptman@gannett.com