A new Netflix documentary has been released which explores the remarkable true story of an internet celebrity who was lauded as a hero, before later being charged with murder. The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker tells the story of Kai, a then-homeless hitchhiker whose iconic interview has been viewed millions of times.
Kai – real name Caleb Lawrence McGillvary – was born in 1988 in Canada, and found fame in 2013 when he was interviewed by news station KMPH in Fresno, California. During the interview, Kai told reporter Jessob Reisbeck how he was hitchhiking when he was offered a ride by a man who Kai described as a “300lb guy” who he said claimed to be Jesus Christ.
While a passenger in the car, Kai claimed the driver revealed that he once assaulted a teenager while on a business trip in the Virgin Islands. The driver then crashed his car into a pedestrian, pinning him between the car and a parked truck.
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When two female bystanders attempted to help the injured man, the driver exited the vehicle and began attacking them before Kai intervened, believing the man could “snap a woman’s neck like a pencil stick.” Kai approached the driver from behind and repeatedly struck him in the head with a hatchet.
During the interview, Kai recalled the scene, saying “smash, smash, suh-mash” as he reenacted the blows. Reisbeck later posted the interview on YouTube, and it soon went viral.
Kai became an internet sensation for his eccentric and free-spirited personality, with the original video currently having been viewed more than 8m times. The interview spawned countless memes, with Kai’s fame further propelled when the video was used by comedy music group The Gregory Brothers to create an auto-tuned song which itself has been viewed more than 11m times.
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Following his newfound notoriety, Kai enjoyed a brief ‘15 minutes’ of fame and even appeared on US talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live. But his story took an abrupt turn just three months later when he was arrested and charged with murder.
In May 2013, after hitchhiking across the US to New York City, Kai claims he was offered a place to stay by New Jersey attorney Joseph Galfy. Kai alleged that he had been drugged and assaulted by the 73-year-old, with the internet celebrity attacking him in what he claimed was self-defence.
In an interview with US news programme Inside Edition, Kai claimed he woke up with Galfy “over the top” of him before he “punched [and] kicked” him a bid to escape. Galfy died from his injuries and Kai fled to Philadelphia where he was apprehended by police four days later.
Despite maintaining his innocence, police believed the murder was premeditated and Kai was held in prison for more than five years while he awaited trial. In 2019, a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder and he was sentenced to 57 years in prison.
Kai launched an appeal against his conviction in August 2021, alleging evidence which could have proved his innocence was ignored. He ultimately lost the appeal, and he remains in New Jersey State Prison in Trenton.
The Netflix documentary recounts Kai’s story and explores the real man behind the viral sensation. It also hears from his family, with his mother claiming Kai has a history of violence and behavioural issues stretching back to childhood.
The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker is available to stream on Netflix now.
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