fallen folk heroes

Internet’s Favorite Hatchet-Wielding Hero Arrested for Murder

Caleb Lawrence McGillvary — better known as viral video hero “Kai, the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker” — has been arrested for the murder of Joseph Galfy Jr., a 73-year-old attorney who was discovered beaten to death in his Clark, New Jersey home on Monday. The New Jersey police issued a warrant for Kai on Thursday afternoon, and CNN reports that the cops found him in a Philadelphia Greyhound bus terminal this evening. He was taken to an Elizabeth, New Jersey jail and his bail has been set at $3 million.

The motive for the killing isn’t entirely clear, but investigators say the two met in Times Square on Saturday, and Galfy eventually brought Kai back to his house, where they spent the night. On Sunday morning, Galfy dropped Kai off at a train station so he could visit Asbury Park, but he returned to Galfy’s place that evening following a series of text messages. “It’s more like ‘Come pick me up’ and ‘I’ll be there at this time,’” explained Union County prosecutor Theodore J. Romankow. “But not anything of a personal nature.” However, the authorities say the two had some kind of “sexual encounter.” A Tuesday post by a Facebook user who seems to be Kai indicates he may have been raped:

In a statement thanking law enforcement and the public for helping to find Kai, Romankow said, “I believe that everyone is a little safer with this person off the streets.” Regardless of what exactly happened, the episode certainly does cast his original 15 minutes of fame — which he earned when he saved a woman from a crazy racist by bludgeoning her attacker in the head with a hatchet — in a different light.

Hatchet-Wielding Hero Kai Arrested for Murder