Netflix True Crime Documentary Transforms Hero Into Murderer Before Your Very Eyes
The bar set for documentaries has been raised substantially in recent years by the streaming service Netflix. With the massive successes of documentaries and docuseries like Making a Murderer, Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey, and Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes have worked to shed light on overlooked cases as well as introduce new wrinkles on decades-old serial killer files. In 2023, the streaming service gave audiences one of the most bizarre documentaries yet when it released The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker, the story of an overnight viral video star that was soon booked on first degree murder charges.
Caleb’s Act Of Heroism
The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker outlines an incident in early 2013 where a Canadian transient named Caleb Lawrence McGillvary stopped a man from brutally assaulting a woman in southern California. 24 years old at the time, McGillvary had hitched a ride with Jett Simmons McBride, which the transient later told police and media had gone quickly south. During their car ride, McGillvary stated that McBride made insane assertions (purporting to be Jesus Christ) as well as revealing some pretty dark criminal acts he’d committed in the past.
“Smash, smash, SUH-MASH!”
Suddenly, McBride crashed his car into a parked utility truck and pinned a hapless worker between the two vehicles. While McGillvary rushed to the man’s aid, a woman appeared at the scene to give a hand. At this point in The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker, McGillvary asserted that McBride exited the car and began to brutally physically assault the good Samaritan.
In an animated interview with local Fox affiliate KMPH-TV, McGillvary (who goes by the moniker “Kai”) rushed to the woman’s aid. He took his hatchet from his backpack and began to beat her attacker in the head with it until he let her go. The zany and hilarious interview with the reporter went viral after it was uploaded to YouTube, having been viewed more than 8 million times.
From Hero To Villain
But as The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker continues, McGillvary lands in the spotlight again months later, but for much more nefarious reasons. Prosecutors in New Jersey charged the viral video star with first degree murder after finding the battered body of 73-year-old Joseph Galfy dead in his bedroom. McGillvary contended that the elderly attorney lured him there under false pretenses and drugged him before assaulting him.
The self-defense angle didn’t sway the court, and McGillvary was found guilty and sentenced to nearly 60 years in prison.
A Balanced Perspective On Caleb’s Behavior
The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker does a great job in assembling a balanced set of characters to interview for the production. Law enforcement personnel, McGillvary’s family members, and Jessob Reisbeck, the original reporter who interviewed him in the source for the viral video, all appeared on camera. Additionally, crew members from Jimmy Kimmel Live! gave producers their perspectives, as McGillvary had appeared on the late-night show before the incident with Galfy.
Witness The Bizarre True Crime Story On Netflix
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The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker is another example of Netflix’s ability to take an odd set of circumstances and finding a great backstory to surround it. The true crime documentary digs into McGillvary’s upbringing in Canada and gives viewers some valuable perspective on the events that molded him into the transient that he became in his early 20s.
You can stream The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker on Netflix.
