[2] In 2023, Netflix debuted the documentary The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker about McGillvary's rise to fame and murder trial.

[6] McGillvary has also stated that he adopted the name "Kai" after taking part in a "spirit walk" while living on an Indigenous reservation.

He stated that he did not have health insurance, a social security card, a driver's license, a passport, or any official form of identification.

McBride began telling McGillvary about his background, including having raped a fourteen-year-old girl in the Virgin Islands while on a business trip.

When a female bystander arrived on the scene to help the stricken worker, McBride exited the vehicle and attacked her with a bear hug.

Believing the woman's life was in danger and that he could snap her neck "like a pencil stick", McGillvary removed a hatchet from his backpack and repeatedly struck McBride in the back of the head.

[11] As a result of the original video's viral nature, McGillvary received extensive offers from various news and entertainment sources seeking interviews and appearances.

[14] In July 2013, McGillvary was hospitalized after suffering from self-inflicted wounds while awaiting trial at Union County Jail in New Jersey.

[15] After the murder charges, viewership of the Fresno meme video increased substantially, broadening its viral reach.

[16] Fans of the video, who considered McGillvary a hero for saving the woman, raised a legal fund for the NJ case.