Court Decides Fate Of Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker's Crime Doc Lawsuit

NEW JERSEY — Attorneys in California have asked a federal court to uphold the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by a man known as the "Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker," who claimed he was defamed in a 2023 Netflix documentary about his ascent to viral stardom and his eventual imprisonment for killing a New Jersey lawyer.

The attorneys filed the request on behalf of California nightclub Fulton 55, its general manager and other parties, according to a NJ Advance Media report. In the lawsuit, Caleb "Kai" McGillvary claimed they defrauded him, stole his performance footage and made slanderous statements in the Netflix film, "The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker."

McGillvary has since appealed the court's decision to dismiss the lawsuit.

In a brief filed last week with the U.S. Court of Appeals, lawyers said McGillvary’s appeal fails to identify any legal error in the lower court’s decision to throw out his case, NJ Advance Media reported.

McGillvary was convicted of first-degree murder in 2019 in connection with the beating death of attorney Joseph Galfy Jr., who was found beaten to death in his Clark Township home.

On May 13, 2013, Clark police found Galfy’s partially clothed body beside his bed at his home on Starlight Drive, according to Union County prosecutors.

McGillvary was identified as a suspect following an investigation and was 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.

Before McGillvary was known for this gruesome murder, he was widely known as an internet meme. McGillvary, who was homeless at the time, was interviewed by a local news team after he saved a woman's life by attacking her assailant using a hatchet and "smashing" him on the head with it.

McGillvary even appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel show and Justin Bieber's team reached out to him.

McGillvary was arrested for murder just a few months after entering the spotlight.

Nearly ten years after the murder, Netflix released its documentary chronicling the infamous true crime story.