ELIZABETH -- A Canadian drifter named Caleb "Kai" Lawrence McGillvary was arrested at a Philadelphia bus station and charged in May 2013 with the murder of Joseph Galfy, a 73-year-old lawyer from Clark.

The arrest came just weeks after the young man, better known as 'Kai the Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker,' was christened a hero by a Fresno, Ca. television station and as a result appeared on nearly every national news broadcast and the Jimmy Kimmel show. His fans immediately cast their support for the YouTube hero and began a campaign online to have him freed from jail.

Now, three years later, Caleb McGillvary is still sitting in the Union County jail awaiting trial.

The three years have not been uneventful. McGillvary, who has pleaded not guilty to murdering Galfy in his home on May 12, 2013, has tried to commit suicide and written a letter to Gov. Chris Christie. He has studied law and then filed several motions in his criminal case and filed state and federal lawsuits, both claiming authorities violated his right to due process by destroying evidence and failing to collect evidence that would prove his claim that the victim attempted to sexually assault him.

The lanky 27 year old still has a few supporters posting comments recorded from his phone calls from the jail, or recordings of him singing and describing his legal battle in a rapid-fire speech, rushing to get in as much as he can in the 15 minutes allowed for each call.

But many of his supporters have vanished. The facebook pages pleading for his release are gone. The GoFundMe sites raising cash for his defense and a Change.Org petition are gone. An online store has stopped selling Kai T-shirts and the "Free Kai" posters have been removed from trees.

One supporter, Donna Miller, of Las Vegas, was once an unofficial spokeswoman for McGillvary, but has since stopped. Miller, who started an online petition and fund-raising effort for McGillvary, now has ended her support efforts and refuses to make any comment about him.

McGillvary's mother, Shirley Stromberg, says she is astonished at how long her son has been awaiting trial, and the way he has been separated from the general jail population. She said her son told her that he was removed over some alleged health concerns.

"You don't treat an innocent person the way he's been treated. I mean who ever the person is you don't treat them like that," Stromberg said in a phone conversation from her home in Alberta, Canada.

Stromberg said she still talks to her son at least once a week and sometimes more.

The three year wait to make his case to a jury also seems to be somewhat long to well known criminal attorney John Vincent Saykanic.

"It's terrible when you are incarcerated but are supposed to be presumed to be innocent," said Saykanic, who has an office in Clifton. "You've basically been punished before you are found guilty and there's no possible way to get back those three years if he is acquitted."

The Union County Prosecutor's Office declined to comment when asked why the case has not yet gone to trial.

McGillvary said he met Galfy by chance in New York City's busy Times Square on May 11, 2013.

Two days later, Clark police were asked to make a wellness check on Galfy and found him dead in his home. At the time of his death, Galfy was a partner in the law firm of Kochanshi, Baron and Galfy in Rahway. He was also a graduate of Seton Hall University, an Army veteran, and a member of several wedding bands.

Three days later, McGillvary was charged with murder.

In a recording recently obtained by NJ Advance Media, McGillvary says he was drugged at Galfy's home and passed out, only to wake up with Galfy on top of him and pulling down his pants. The young man said he hit the homeowner to get away, then fled the home.

During the statement, Johnny Ho, an investigator with the Union County Prosecutor's office, tells McGillvary that Galfy is dead, and McGillvary lets out a loud sigh, apparently surprised by the news.

In pre-trial hearings, McGillvary has sought to dismiss Deputy Public Defender Peter Liguori who is defending him, and requested a change of venue, arguing that Galfy knew many of the Union County Superior Court judges.

In court, McGillvary told Superior Court Judge Joseph Donohue last month that Robert Mega, Union County's presiding Criminal Court judge, had the phone number for the victim's son, Joseph Galfy III Jr., saved as contact no. 18. He said learned that Mega was listed in Galfy's cellphone from evidence that the prosecutor's office provided to Liquori.

Donohue said Mega has recused himself from the case, but he understood the defendant's concern about the other judges.

McGillvary also uses the legal jargon he's picked up from the jail library when speaking in court.

"I do declare that I do not surrender Sixth Amendment rights to be represented by counsel. I do declare that there is a conflict of interest that exists between Peter Liguori and myself as indicated by an agent from his office," McGillvary told Judge Donohue.

"I wish to seek alternative counsel, pro hac vice, from any of the other 49 contiguous states," said he said, referring to a legal practice of having a lawyer from outside the state being granted permission to represent him.

Donohue has yet to rule on the request for a change of venue or whether Liguori will be removed as the defense attorney.

Liguori, when asked about the case, declined comment.

Tom Haydon may be reached at thaydon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Tom_HaydonSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.