Drifter "Kai" says he's no murderer

ELIZABETH, N.J. - A man who gained Internet fame as "Kai, the Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker," says he's not guilty of a murder charge.

Caleb McGillivary was being held in a New Jersey jail Thursday after he waived extradition following his arrest in Philadelphia on May 16.

The 24-year-old drifter from Canada is charged with beating 73-year-old lawyer Joseph Galfy to death after they met in New York City. Galfy's body was found in his Clark home.

When a reporter asked if the killing was in self-defense, McGillivary responded Thursday, "I don't know. You tell me." As McGillivary was being led to jail, he told reporters he wasn't guilty. He also thanked supporters.

McGillivary gained a dose of fame in February when he was interviewed after he claimed to have intervened with a hatchet to stop an allegedly unprovoked attack on a Fresno, Calif., utility worker.

He has implied he was drugged and raped by Galfy.

In separate interviews last week with The Inquirer from Canada, the parents and a grandmother of McGillivary told of a troubled young man with years of behavioral and mental-health problems, hospital visits, treatment, and possible abuse.

"I do believe he has post-traumatic stress," said Gil McGillivary, 57, who described his son as a gifted musician with "a big heart."

He said he and Caleb's mother broke up when the boy was about 4. Both have remarried, and the father has three children from his current marriage.

Mary Ann McGillivary, 80, Caleb's paternal grandmother, said her grandson had a rough childhood but was "a very good boy" to her.