You remember the video. Everyone does. A guy with a bandana, shaggy hair, and a wild look in his eyes telling a reporter how he saved the day with a hatchet. "Smash, smash, SUH-MASH!" It was 2013, and for a few weeks, Caleb Lawrence McGillvary—better known as Kai the Hatchet Hitchhiker—was the most famous person on the internet. He was the "homefree" hero who took down a guy claiming to be Jesus.
But honestly? The story didn't end with a Jimmy Kimmel appearance and a record deal. It ended in a New Jersey prison cell.
Most people know the meme. Fewer people know the actual details of the 57-year murder sentence he’s currently serving. Even fewer know that as of late 2025 and early 2026, he is still filing lawsuits from behind bars, trying to sue everyone from Netflix to random YouTubers. It’s a messy, tragic, and deeply weird saga that says more about our obsession with "viral heroes" than it does about the man himself.
The 2013 Viral Explosion: A Hero is Born (Sorta)
Everything started in Fresno. Kai was hitchhiking when he got picked up by a guy named Jett Simmons McBride. Things went south fast. McBride intentionally crashed his car into a utility worker and then allegedly tried to attack a woman who came to help. Kai jumped out, pulled a hatchet from his bag, and hit McBride in the head to stop him.
The local news interview was gold. Reporter Jessob Reisbeck struck viral oil.
Kai was charismatic in a chaotic, Pauly Shore kind of way. He talked about "giving a person a piece of your heart" and "the beauty of the universe." He looked like a harmless hippie. Within days, he was on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Producers were stalking him. He was the ultimate "Milkshake Duck"—that internet term for someone we all love for five minutes before we realize they’re actually quite complicated. Or in this case, dangerous.
The problem was that the people trying to sign him didn't actually know him. They didn't see the "powder keg" the judge would later describe. They just saw views.
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The Murder of Joseph Galfy: What Really Happened?
Three months after Fresno, the hero narrative shattered.
In May 2013, a 73-year-old lawyer and Army veteran named Joseph Galfy was found dead in his home in Clark, New Jersey. He had been beaten to death. It was brutal. Galfy had three skull fractures and four broken ribs. Police found a piece of paper with a name on it: "Lawrence Kai."
Kai was arrested at a Greyhound bus terminal in Philadelphia. His defense was consistent from day one: he claimed Galfy had drugged and raped him, and he fought back in self-defense.
The prosecution didn't buy it. They pointed to the severity of Galfy's injuries—the man was 5-foot-5 and weighed 230 pounds, while Kai was young and athletic. They also noted that Kai cut his hair and fled the state after the killing. During the trial, Kai was combative. He had outbursts. He yelled at the judge. He was his own worst enemy in that courtroom. In 2019, a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder.
The judge didn't hold back at sentencing, telling Kai that when he becomes eligible for parole, he’ll still be younger than Joseph Galfy was when he was killed. That’s a heavy sentence. 57 years. He has to serve 85% of it before he can even think about a parole board. We're talking 2061.
The Lawsuit Era: Kai vs. The Internet
If you think Kai disappeared after the Netflix documentary The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker dropped in 2023, you’re wrong. He’s actually been incredibly busy. He’s basically turned into a professional pro se litigator from his cell at the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton.
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He has sued:
- Netflix: For defamation and using his likeness.
- The Behavior Panel: A group of body language experts on YouTube.
- Dr. Todd Grande: A mental health content creator.
- Theo Von: He even sued the comedian because of a deepfake video.
Most of these cases have been tossed out. In late 2025, a federal judge in Georgia dismissed his lawsuit against The Behavior Panel, ruling that their analysis of his "sociopathic" or "psychopathic" traits was protected opinion. The courts have generally ruled that because Kai "voluntarily placed himself in the position of public notoriety," people are allowed to talk about him.
It’s a strange irony. The same internet fame that he once basked in is now the very thing that makes it impossible for him to win a defamation suit.
The Netflix Factor: Is the Documentary Fair?
The 2023 documentary reopened a lot of old wounds. It featured Jessob Reisbeck, the original reporter, who still seems to have a complicated relationship with the story. The film paints a picture of a guy who was clearly struggling with trauma and mental health long before the hatchet ever came out.
But it also received criticism. One man, Taylor Hazlewood, sued Netflix because they used a photo of him holding a hatchet—a photo that had nothing to do with Kai—and placed it next to the words "stone-cold killer." It was a massive oversight that showed just how quickly the "content machine" moves, often at the expense of real people.
Kai himself hates the documentary. He’s claimed it’s a "hatchet job" (pun probably not intended) and that it ignores his claims of sexual assault.
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Why We’re Still Talking About Him
Why does this story stick? It's not just the "smash" meme. It’s the discomfort of realizing how easily we’re tricked by a good story. In 2013, we wanted Kai to be a hero. We wanted the "homefree" wanderer to be the antidote to a cynical world.
The reality was a Canadian man named Caleb Lawrence McGillvary with a deeply troubled past, a history of family trauma, and a capacity for extreme violence.
There are no winners here. Joseph Galfy is dead. Kai is spending his life in a maximum-security prison. And the internet has moved on to a thousand other memes, rarely stopping to check if the next "hero" is actually who they seem to be.
Moving Forward: Lessons from the Kai Saga
If you’re following this case, keep these points in mind:
- Check the Source: Viral videos are 30-second clips of a human being’s entire life. They are never the whole story.
- The Legal Reality: Kai’s appeals have mostly failed. His conviction was upheld in 2021, and unless some massive new evidence regarding the Joseph Galfy case comes to light, he will be in prison for decades.
- Media Ethics: The lawsuits against Netflix and YouTubers highlight a growing tension between "True Crime" as entertainment and the rights of the people involved.
The most actionable thing you can do is look at the 2023 Netflix documentary with a critical eye. Don't take it as the absolute gospel truth. Instead, look at the court transcripts from the 2019 trial if you want the unfiltered version of the evidence. It's much grimmer, and much more revealing, than a viral clip.
The saga of Kai the Hatchet Hitchhiker is officially a closed chapter in terms of his freedom, but as long as he has access to a law library and a pen, the legal battles will likely continue. Just don't expect him to be hitchhiking again any time soon.
For those looking to dive deeper into the legal nuances of his appeals or the specific testimonies of the medical examiners in the Galfy case, the New Jersey Appellate Division records are public and provide the most factual, non-sensationalized account of why the jury reached their verdict.
Researching more about this? You can find the full 2021 appellate ruling under State of New Jersey v. Caleb L. McGillvary. It outlines every one of his 15 points of appeal and why they were rejected.