YouTube Sensation 'Kai The Hitchhiker' Back In NJ To Face Murder Charges
ELIZABETH, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A man on YouTube known as "Kai, the hatchet-wielding hitchhiker'' is back in New Jersey to face a murder charge.
Caleb McGillvary was being held in the Union County jail Thursday after he waived extradition following his arrest in Philadelphia on May 16.
The 24-year-old Canadian is charged with beating 73-year-old lawyer Joseph Galfy to death after they met in New York City. Galfy's partially clothed body was found in his Clark, N.J., home two days later.
When a reporter asked if the killing was self-defense, McGillivary responded Thursday, "I don't know. You tell me.''
McGillivary told reporters he's "not guilty."
McGillivary previously suggested in a Facebook post that he had been sexually assaulted in Galfy's home.
"What would you do if you woke up with a groggy head, in a stranger's house, realizing that someone had drugged and raped you? What would you do?" the accused killer supposedly posted on Facebook.
McGillivary said he was appreciative of letters of support he's since received.
"I'd just like to say thank you to all the supporters," he added.
Prosecutors said they were glad McGillivary was back in New Jersey and didn't fight extradition.
"We're still investigating the matter, on forensic evidence, and we expect that we'll have additional evidence accumulated over the course of the next week or two," Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow said. "We'll proceed to the grand jury after that, and the charges will, as I said, be a homicide."
McGillvary became a YouTube sensation after he stopped a suspect who allegedly attacked a utility worker in Fresno, Calif., back in February.
At the time, he told KMPH that he was a passenger in the suspect's car when the suspect plowed the car into a utility truck, pinning the worker between the car and the truck.
When the suspect became violent with a bystander, "Kai" pulled a hatchet from his backpack and struck the suspect in the head.
His expletive-laden interview following the incident went viral online after it was posted on YouTube. He even made an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"
Prosecutors have declined to say what object was used in Galfy's beating.
McGillvary was arrested at a Greyhound Bus Terminal on May 16 after he was spotted at a Philadelphia Starbucks.
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