Internet Celeb and Accused Killer Was in Woodcrest Thursday, Police Say

Caleb Lawrence McGillvary, the celebrity hitchhiking ax man who allegedly killed a man in Union County, was in Cherry Hill’s Woodcrest neighborhood as late as 4 p.m. Thursday, authorities said.

A tip from a caller in Cherry Hill led Haddonfield officers, along with the Camden County emergency tactical unit and at least one Cherry Hill police officer, to a home in Woodcrest where McGillvary was reportedly staying, according to Haddonfield commissioner Ed Borden, the outgoing director of public safety.

The residents in Woodcrest told police McGillvary had gone with a woman to Philadelphia to catch a bus Wednesday afternoon, Borden said—information that ultimately led to McGillvary's arrest at a bar at 10th and Chestnut streets, near the Greyhound bus terminal.

McGillvary had spent up to 12 hours in Haddonfield earlier in the week, including eating a meal at the Villa Rosa pizza shop on Kings Highway East near the PATCO station, where a caller told police she had seen him, Borden said. This information contradicted day-long reports from Haddonfield police and the Camden County Prosecutor's office that McGillvary was out of Camden County and likely out of the state.

Haddonfield Police received several tips from callers who had seen McGillvary, following those news reports, Borden said.

McGillvary, better known as Internet sensation "Kai the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker" on YouTube and Facebook, was wanted in the death of Joseph Galfy Jr., 73, in Clark, NJ. He is charged with the May 12 homicide of Galfy, and will be processed in Philadelphia and returned to New Jersey in the coming days, authorities said.

The role local police played in McGillvary's capture near a Greyhound bus station in Center City, Philadelphia came to light late in an email Borden sent to the media and several local officials. Chief John Banning told a reporter at 3 p.m. on Thursday that he and his department believed McGillvary had not been in Haddonfield since Wednesday.

"They're advising us he's out of the area," Banning said. "That's what we're going on."

Banning did not immediately return a call for comment Friday morning. Borden said the information on McGillvary came to police after the conversation with the reporter.

Galfy picked up McGillvary in Times Square on Saturday, May 11, and stayed overnight at Galfy's Clark home before leaving for Asbury Park on Sunday, the Union County Prosecutor's Office said.

McGillvary returned to Galfy's home later on Sunday and allegedly bludgeoned him to death, the prosecutor's office said. McGillvary then left and traveled to Asbury Park, Philadelphia and Glassboro, where he met up with two of his fans, who are providing information to police.

Authorities said McGillvary had cut his hair in an attempt to alter his appearance, and he was considered to be armed and dangerous.

In a post on his Facebook page earlier this week, McGillvary alleged he was drugged and raped by Galfy and asked followers, "what would you do?"