ELIZABETH — A man who gained nationwide celebrity status on social media pleaded not guilty today to a charge of killing a 73-year-old lawyer in the victim's home in Clark last May.
Caleb McGillivary, 25, known as "Kai the hatchet-wielding hitchhiker," stood silent during his arraignment before Superior Court Judge Joseph Donohue.
McGillivary's attorney, Union County dublic defender Peter Liguori, filed the not guilty plea to the charge of murder in the beating death of Joseph Galfy.
Donohue scheduled a status conference in the case for Jan. 27.
Liguori, when approached after the brief hearing, said he could not comment on the case, but acknowledged that McGillivary is feeling better than he did shortly after his arrest.
"He's doing better than he was a couple of months ago," Liguori said.
In July, McGillivary was rushed from the Union County jail in Elizabeth to a hospital for treatment of self-inflicted wounds. He was later returned to the jail.
McGillivary is suspected of beating Galfy, a partner in a Rahway law firm, in Galfy's home on May 12, about 24 hours after the two met, "by chance," in Manhattan's Times Square, authorities have said.
On May 13, police went to Galfy's home after he did not show up for work or answer his phone. They found Galfy dead in his bed.
Authorities say McGillivary beat Galfy, then left for Asbury Park and later headed to Philadelphia.
On May 14, McGillivary, who is originally from Canada, wrote a post on his Facebook page intimating he was drugged and sexually assaulted, but did not say where or when. Then-Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow has called those comments "self-serving."
McGillivary was arrested two days later in Philadelphia.
McGillivary gained celebrity in California last February when hitchhiking. After he was picked up, he used the handle of a hatchet to subdue the driver when that man tried to kill a utility worker with his car, earning his moniker.
McGillivary attracted fans across the country, mostly through Facebook and Twitter.
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