'Kai The Hitchhiker' Guilty Of Beating Clark Attorney To Death

CLARK, NJ — A Canadian hitchhiker who gained Internet fame in 2013 was found guilty of beating a 73-year-old attorney to death inside his Clark home in 2013, authorities said.

Caleb "Kai" McGillvary, 30, was convicted of first-degree murder in connection with the beating death of Joseph Galfy Jr. following several hours of jury deliberation spread over two days and a four-week trial, acting Union County Prosecutor Michael A. Monahan announced Wednesday.

He faces a term of up to life in state prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 13.

On May 13, 2013, Clark Police found Galfy’s partially clothed body beside his bed on Starlight Drive in the township, according to Union County Assistant Prosecutors Scott Peterson and Jillian Reyes, who prosecuted the case.

McGillvary was identified as a suspect following an investigation and he was later found in Philadelphia three days after the killing when an employee of a coffee shop there recognized him and contacted police. He had reportedly cut his hair and fled the state following the crime, authorities report.

McGillvary met Galfy in New York City’s Times Square, about a day and a half before Galfy’s death.

Despite McGillvary's self-defense claim at trial, Dr. Junaid Shaikh of the Division of the County Medical Examiner contradicted it. Shaikh pointed out that Galfy was 5'5," weighed 230 pounds, and had a stent in his chest due to a heart condition. He also sustained numerous serious blunt-force injuries to his face, head, neck, chest, and arms, including three skull fractures, four broken ribs, and severe contusions, abrasions, and bleeding, according to the report.

Additionally, a wide range of inconsistencies were revealed at trial including McGillvary 's initial statement he gave police shortly after his arrest and comments he made while testifying at trial.

"This was a brutal, vicious, senseless crime, and we are pleased that the interests of justice have been served," Monahan said.

McGillvary, known as the hatch-wielding hitchhiker, had gained Internet fame following a viral news interview video in 2013. Watch it below (note there is profanity):

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