Within weeks, Kai Lawrence (Caleb Lawrence McGillvary) became an overnight sensation after he gave a rambling TV interview that was streamed millions of times. But things took a tragic turn after his brush with internet fame, and in 2019, he was convicted of murder.
In February 2013, Lawrence, then a 24-year-old homeless surfer, gave a bizarre interview with news station KMPH about a disturbing incident that occurred when he was hitching a ride with a stranger to Fresno, Calif.
Lawrence claimed that while he was in the car with the driver, the driver admitted to S.Aing 14-year-old girl and then purposely hit a pedestrian with his truck before attacking a woman who came over to help.
Lawrence said he then sprung into action and repeatedly hit the driver's head with a hatchet in an attempt to help the injured bystanders.
The colorful way Lawrence communicated this violent story ("smash, smash, SA-SMASH!") caught the public's attention, and his account became a meme. The media swarmed around Lawrence, who seemingly faced mental health struggles of his own. Lawrence was invited onto everything from reality shows to late-night TV, and even appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live in mid-February of 2013.
Lawrence, who was still homeless, headed to New York shortly after his newfound fame. But within a few months in the city, he was arrested for killing a man named Joseph Galfy, whom he claimed had sexually assaulted him.
Galfy, a 73-year-old lawyer, was found dead at his New Jersey home in only his socks and underwear. He had been beaten to death.
Officers investigating the case found a sheet of paper with Lawrence's name on it inside Galfy's home, as well as a train ticket receipt leading them to surveillance footage of Galfy hugging Lawrence at the train station
When Lawrence was located at a Philadelphia bus station, he admitted to killing Galfy, but claimed it was self-defense following an alleged S.A. Investigators noticed inconsistencies in his story, and Lawrence was convicted of first-degree murder in 2019.
He was sentenced to 57 years in prison. He remains imprisoned in New Jersey today.
#kai
#truecrime
#interrogation
#netflix
15 сен 2023
