*WARNING: Some elements of this story contain foul language that may not be suitable for some readers
A shaggy-haired hitchhiker who achieved fame online for claiming to have stopped an attempted murder has now been arrested in the murder of a New Jersey lawyer.
Police in Clark, NJ wanted Caleb Lawrence McGillvary, better known as “Kai the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker,” for the murder of 73-year-old lawyer Joseph Galfy Jr., who was killed on May 12.
Clark Police Dept. and Union County Homicide Task Force issued an arrest warrant for McGillvary on Thursday — hours before apprehending him at a Grey Hound Bus terminal in Philadelphia, NBC News reported.
He was charged with murder Thursday morning and a Superior Court judge set his bail at $3 million.
Police said McGillvary had been last seen at a light rail station in Haddonfield, NJ — about 120 kilometres south of Clark and about 21 kilometres southwest of Philadelphia.
Police found Galfy’s body on Monday, while conducting a welfare check at his home.
According to an interview in the Star-Ledger, Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow said autopsy results revealed he died of “blunt force trauma.”
Police believed McGillvray had cut his hair in an attempt to change his appearance (photo at bottom of page). Before his arrest, he was considered armed and dangerous.
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Investigators said he refers to himself as “homefree,” rather than homeless, and that he “relies on the generosity of strangers for food, lodging and transportation.”
McGillvary gained widespread attention after an interview with California station KMPH FOX 26 in which he exuberantly explained how he stopped the attempted murder of a Pacific Gas & Electric worker.
He was hitchhiking in a car that slammed into gas workers in Fresno, pinning one man. The driver, Jett McBride, allegedly got out and began attacking the man and the other workers.
McGillvary said he stopped McBride from killing the victim by “smashing” him over the head with a hatchet. That account was later dismissed by the victim’s co-workers in the preliminary hearing, who said they were the ones that pulled McBride off the man.
The video of the interview led to minor internet stardom for McGillvary. It now has more than three million views on YouTube.
He also earned an appearance on the ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!
The day after police found Galfy’s body, in a message posted on what appears to be his Facebook timeline, McGillivray claimed he had been sexually assaulted while he slept.
Photo released by Union County Prosecutor’s office
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