Latest legal hurdle cleared for two rape survivors in their decades-long quest for justice

By Karen Anderson

Click here for updates on this story

    LOS ANGELES (WCVB) — Accused rapist Stephen Paul Gale could return to Massachusetts to face a judge within the next month if he is medically cleared to travel.

Gale was served with what is known as a governor’s warrant on Wednesday in a Los Angeles courtroom to begin the process of bringing him back to Massachusetts, where he is charged with raping two women who were working in a clothing store in Framingham 35 years ago.

Gale’s attorney, Sammy Weiss, told 5 Investigates Gale recently had open-heart surgery and still has stitches from the operation, and he will be asking for a delay in the cross-country travel.

Weiss added, however, “he (Gale) is anxious to go back and prove his innocence.”

Gale is accused of posing as a customer and raping two women who were working at the Hit or Miss clothing store in Framingham in 1989. The case went cold until the two survivors asked law enforcement to re-open the investigation in 2021. With leads from forensic genetic genealogy, police say they were able to match DNA from the crime scene to Gale.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.