Not guilty plea entered for `Kai the Hitchhiker’

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

11 years ago

Caleb McGillivary waits to be arraigned on murder charges in a Union County jail courtroom in Elizabeth, N.J. on Monday. McGillivary, 24, who gained Internet fame as “Kai the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker”, is charged in the beating death of a Clark attorney Joseph Galfy.

Caleb McGillivary is arraigned on murder charges in a Union County jail courtroom in Elizabeth, N.J. on Monday.

ELIZABETH, N.J. — A man who gained Internet fame as “Kai the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker” has pleaded not guilty through a lawyer to a murder charge.

Caleb McGillivary appeared Monday in a Union County jail courtroom. The 24-year-old is accused of killing 73-year-old lawyer Joseph Galfy, whose body was found May 13 in his Clark home.

Wearing an oatmeal-colored T-shirt, McGillivary stood behind thick glass. He questioned Judge Joan Robinson Gross numerous times about his plea and bail.

Authorities say McGillivary and Galfy met in New York City. McGillvary stayed at Galfy’s home. He was arrested in Philadelphia days later.

McGillivary took a star turn in February after intervening in an attack on a Fresno, Calif. utility worker.

He described himself as “home free” instead of homeless and said he’s from West Virginia. He is actually Canadian.