Caleb Lawrence McGillvary (born September 3, 1988), also referred to as Kai, is a Canadian man who first became known from the internet viral video "Kai the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker", which featured him recounting a crime he witnessed while hitchhiking. McGillvary subsequently received national attention in the press. In 2019, McGillvary was convicted of first-degree murder in New Jersey. He cited the fallout from the video as part of his defense against the homicide charge. In 2023, Netflix debuted the documentary The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker about McGillvary's rise to fame and murder trial.
Personal life
McGillvary was born on September 3, 1988, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He has stated that he was raised in a fundamentalist Christian cult, that his parents were divorced, and that he had been molested in his youth. As a teenager, he moved with his family to St. Paul, Alberta, and attended St. Paul Regional High School.
McGillvary has also stated that he adopted the name "Kai" after taking part in a "spirit walk" while living on an Indigenous reservation.
Prior to the Fresno incident in 2013, McGillvary had been living as a transient, which he has described as "homefree". He stated that he did not have health insurance, a social security card, a driver's license, a passport, or any official form of identification.
Fresno incident
In February 2013, McGillvary was interviewed and videotaped by local Fox affiliate KMPH-TV in Fresno, California. McGillvary recounted he had been hitchhiking and was picked up by Jett Simmons McBride, whom McGillvary describes as weighing , and who claimed to be Jesus Christ. In the car, McGillvary claimed McBride boasted of having raped a fourteen-year-old girl in the Virgin Islands while on a business trip. McBride then crashed his car into a parked utility truck, pinning a worker between his front bumper and the rear of the truck. McGillvary went to help the man, while McBride remained in the car. When a female bystander arrived on the scene to help the stricken worker, McBride attacked her in a bear hug. Sensing the woman's life might be in danger and believing the man could snap her neck "like a pencil stick", McGillvary removed a hatchet from his backpack and repeatedly struck McBride in the back of the head. In the video, McGillvary describes the hatchet blows with the words "smash, smash, smash" while he reenacts the overhead swings. McGillvary recounts he was later interrogated by police and set free.
The video was uploaded to YouTube on February 2, 2013, by Jessob Reisbeck, who had conducted the interview for KMPH. As of January 14, 2023, the video had over 8 million views. The Gregory Brothers sampled the interview and turned it into a song, furthering the video's reach. In January 2020, McGillvary was interviewed on Inside Edition, where scenes from the viral video were replayed. As a result of the viral nature of the original video, McGillvary received extensive offers from various news and entertainment sources seeking interviews and appearances. This resulted in his appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on February 11, 2013.
Murder conviction
McGillvary was arrested on murder charges on May 16, 2013, for the death of New Jersey attorney Joseph Galfy. According to McGillvary, Galfy offered McGillvary a place to stay for the night, only to drug and rape him. McGillvary maintained he fought with Galfy in self-defense. Police said the sexual encounter was consensual and the murder premeditated. McGillvary contended that after the viral video in California, he had no need to have sex with men like Galfy, whom McGillvary described as unattractive, stating, "Do you know how many hot chicks—never mind. Even if I was gay, do you know how many hot guys wanted to fuck me after that shit in California? I'm not even being vain. It's just a fact, like—no offense, but he [Galfy] was not a looker". In July 2013, McGillvary was hospitalized after suffering from self-inflicted wounds while awaiting trial at Union County Jail in New Jersey.