You may remember Kai, the oddball hitchhiker who became a hero of sorts after he saved a woman in California from an attacker by going after that guy with a hatchet he happened to be carrying. See "Axe-Wielding Hitchhiker Dude Saves Lady from Fake Jesus" (Feb. 4, 2013). At the time I thought, "wow, heroes can turn up in the unlikeliest places," and remarked, "For once the dude with the hatchet is the good guy" and also "I still would not recommend picking up a hitchhiker who is waving a hatchet, but if you must do so I hope it turns out to be Kai."

Yeah, so, he killed a guy.

Or at least that's what authorities in New Jersey believe. Kai (that's not his real name, but I will go ahead and keep using it) was arrested on Thursday and charged with killing a 73-year-old man he had apparently met in Times Square. The man was found at his home in New Jersey. Kai was linked to the man through text messages they had exchanged, and he was spotted in a Starbucks on Thursday, the same day police identified him as a suspect. Given his former celebrity, it didn't take too long to find him. "Being on YouTube too much," said the police commissioner in Philadelphia, where Kai was arrested, "is not necessarily a good thing."

Also not a good thing: picking up hitchhikers who are waving hatchets, or look like they might have a hatchet, or any hitchhikers, really. I did have the basic recommendation right, at least.