A new Netflix doc explores his rise to fame…and what happened after.
Back in 2013, a man named Caleb McGillvary went viral after he used a hatchet to help save a woman from an attack. McGillvary, who calls himself Kai, became a household name, and started to be referred to as “Kai, the hatchet-wielding hitchhiker.” He even spawned a bunch of memes after he described his “smash, smash, suh-mash” hatchet-wielding technique during his act of bravery.
McGillvary was an instant Internet celebrity, with one person describing him in the documentary as “cute and sweet and innocent,” so obviously, the world was shocked to later learn that he was also going to prison for murder.
Now, McGillvary’s story is the subject of a new Netflix documentary, The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker, which details the hitchhiker’s rise to fame, along with his eventual jail sentence for the killing of a New Jersey man in 2013.
It’s been over a decade since his hatchet interview went viral, and everyone wants to know where Kai the “hatchet wielding hitchhiker” is now. Here’s what you need to know:
He went viral for talking about how he saved people from an attack.
McGillvary rose to fame in 2013 after giving an expletive-laced interview with KMPH and Fox26, where he described how he came to the rescue of some people after an altercation with a man who offered him a ride while McGillvary was hitchhiking.
In the local news interview, McGillvary said that he was hitchhiking when he was picked up by a man named Jett Simmons McBride. McGillvary then said McBride started claiming to be Jesus Christ and crashed into a pedestrian in an intersection, pinned him against the back of a parked truck.
McGillvary described to the reporter how McBride began threatening a woman who was trying to help the pinned man. McGillvary then removed a hatchet from his backpack and hit McBride in the back of the head with the blunt side to try to protect the woman, describing the way he delivered the blows as going, “Smash, smash, suh-mash.”
You can see the full (and totally bizarre) interview here:
What did Kai the hitchhiker do?
Three months later, in May of 2013, McGillvary was once again in the news, but this time for being arrested on charges that he beat New Jersey lawyer Joseph Galfy to death. McGillvary said he was acting in self-defense to try to fend off a sexual assault after meeting Galfy in Times Square, per the Associated Press.
His trial began five years after his arrest, in 2019.
During McGillvary’s trial, investigators said surveillance footage, cell phone data, and other evidence were used to identify McGillvary as a suspect, per CBS New York.
McGillvary said he acted in self-defense and claimed “he killed the older man while fending off a sexual assault,” per the AP, but prosecutors said he made inconsistent statements and noted that Galfy suffered from extensive injuries. The victim had several blunt-force injuries to his face, head, neck, chest, and arms, along with three skull fractures, four broken ribs, and severe contusions, abrasions, and bleeding, CBS New York reported.
He was sentenced to 57 years in prison.
McGillvary called the trial a “sham” that “railroaded an innocent man,” at his sentencing, per NJ.com. He was was sentenced to 57 years in prison, according to CBS News.
In 2021, McGillvary also attempted to get his murder conviction overturned, to no avail, the AP reported. At the time, claimed the verdict wasn’t justified by the evidence and that “prosecutors committed misconduct by mischaracterizing the evidence and McGillvary’s defense,” the outlet said. McGillvary also accused the judge of “improperly allowing highly prejudicial expert testimony.”
How old is McGillvary?
“Kai” was 24 at the time of the viral interview. He is now 34 years old.
Where is Kai the hitchhiker now?
McGillvary went to jail in 2019 and is expected to remain there until 2061. He’s currently serving time in Trenton, N.J., according to NJ.com.
You can watch more of McGillvary’s story on Netflix, where The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker is streaming now.
Via Women’s Health.
