24-year-old Caleb Lawrence McGillvary, known on Facebook as "Kai the Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker" is being sought on murder charges for killing Joseph Galfy Jr., a New Jersey attorney, in his home on Monday, CNN reported. McGillvary's whereabouts are not yet known. A press conference scheduled for late Thursday is expected to explain he has come to be a suspect in the case.
The Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow said that McGillvary cut his hair in an attempt to alter his appearance. In interviews and photos, the itinerant hitchhiker is seen as a long-haired hippie.
An autopsy completed on Tuesday afternoon determined that Galfy, who was 73, died of blunt force trauma, the prosecutor's office said.
McGillvary, depicted as a homeless hitchhiker who has been described as having a freewheeling appearance and spirit, gained notoriety on televised interview when he helped to stop a deadly attack in California by pummeling a man with hatchet. He also was a principal witness in the subsequent court hearing.
McGillvary received national attention after CNN affiliate KMPH interviewed him about a February hitchhiking experience in which he used a hatchet to subdue the driver who claimed to be Jesus and struck a utility worker with his car, then grabbed a woman as she provided help at the scene in Fresno, California.
The prosecutor's homicide task force is working with officials officials to locate McGillvary, and the "Internet Sensation" is charged with murder with bail at $3 million by Superior Court Judge Stuart Peim.
Union County Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to his arrest.
McGillvary is homeless but calls himself "homefree," authorities said.
"Authorities believe that McGillvary relies on the generosity of strangers for food, lodging and transportation," the prosecutor said in a statement. "He is considered to be armed and dangerous."
McGillvary goes by the names Kai Lawrence, Caleb Kai Lawrence and Kai Nicodemus, authorities said.
