‘Serial rapist’ caught after 30 years on the run – and he’s found living on a luxury yacht

A suspected serial rapist who evaded authorities for more than 30 years has finally been caught after he was spotted living a double life on a luxury yacht.

Stephen Paul Gale, 71, has reportedly been identified through DNA testing as the infamous ‘Boston Strip Mall Rapist’, sparking a manhunt Investigators tracked him this week to a $1.5 million yacht in Los Angeles.

As police approached to arrest him, Gale realized he was being followed. He ran from his boat to his car and led a daring police chase through LA. The chase lasted over 90 minutes before he was apprehended.

Gale was subsequently charged in connection with the kidnapping and rape of two women in Framingham, Massachusetts, at gunpoint in 1989.

Detectives, who have eluded Gale for two years since new DNA testing linked him to the crimes, said he had ties to organized crime, lived in several states and used a variety of aliases over the years.

Stephen Paul Gale, 71, was arrested this week on suspicion of being the infamous ‘Boston Strip Mall Rapist’ who raped two women at gunpoint in 1989

Gale was arrested after a police chase through Los Angeles that ended with a hospital stay with medical complications as she was charged in connection with the crime

The search for Gale intensified in March of this year, when he was charged with four counts of aggravated rape, two counts of kidnapping and one count of armed robbery.

When he allegedly raped two women in 1989, Gale posed as a customer at a Hit or Miss department store before cornering his victims at gunpoint, according to police.

Gale then allegedly directed them to different rooms in the store and sexually assaulted them before fleeing, reports WCVB.

The search for the rapist responsible was stalled for decades. Over the years, victims made themselves heard and demanded that the police reopen the investigation.

In 2001, a DNA profile was created from evidence found at the crime scene, but it did not match the DNA in police databases.

In 2022, 33 years after the attacks, Framingham police called in a forensics lab to retest DNA from the crime scene to determine a suspect profile.

Gale was identified in this way and managed to evade police for two years.

A decades-long manhunt ended when police tracked Gale to this $1.5 million yacht on a Navy ship in Los Angeles

Gale reportedly noticed police closing in, prompting him to flee in a daring 90-minute police chase

Footage captured the moment police ended the chase by throwing a spike strip in front of Gale’s vehicle’s tires

After Gale’s (pictured) arrest, it became clear that he was also wanted for questioning in connection with several other violent sexual assaults in the Boston area between 1989 and 1990.

However, the 71-year-old man had not been seen since 2007, prompting authorities to appeal to the public for information and offer a $5,000 reward.

Gale was also identified as a possible suspect in several further violent sexual assaults in the Boston area between 1989 and 1990, KTLA reported.

According to reports, the US Marshals and the District of Nevada assisted in the manhunt and received information that he was in the Los Angeles area.

He was being followed on a massive $1.5 million yacht, the largest in the bay at the time, and he reportedly knew he was on police radar and knew they were closing in on him.

It is unclear how Gale came by the money for the multi-million dollar ship, but reports say he was known to embezzle and defraud people he knew.

Before police could raid his yacht this week, Gale fled in his vehicle and led the chase through Los Angeles.

Footage shows police throwing a studded tire in front of Gale’s vehicle, ending the 90-minute chase shortly after.

He was arrested outside the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, and footage shows him being carried away on a stretcher.

Gale was taken into custody outside the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and footage showed him being carried away on a stretcher

Since then, he has missed two court appearances due to medical problems, including on another charge involving theft and check forgery in 1996.

After Gale’s arrest, residents near the Los Angeles marina, where he was reportedly eluding the law on his yacht, were shocked to discover that he was likely a serial rapist.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Don Smollet, a local resident, told KTLA when he heard this week.

“Well, I talked to him. I don’t know much about him, but I talked to him many, many times. He was here. He rebuilt that boat. He brought it here.”

Smollett added that Gale had told people he had ties to the fashion company Dior and had even named his yacht after the brand.