One of the strangest and creepiest stories in American history remains unsolved to this very day, and features a mysterious stalker known only as ‘The Watcher’.
It’s the stuff of nightmares, and the story begins in a lovely six-bedroom house in Westfield, New Jersey.
It should have become an idyllic family home for the Broaddus family when they moved in around a decade ago, but instead it turned into a horrific experience.
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Before the family moved in, they must have thought they’d lucked out.
Their huge house sat on half an acre of land in a seemingly friendly neighbourhood, less than 30 miles out of Manhattan.
However, the family started receiving ominous and terrifying letters from ‘The Watcher’ telling them their house and their young children were being constantly watched.
The mysterious stalker even seemed to know intimate details about their lives.
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Maria and Derek Broaddus were so unnerved by the letters that they never actually moved into the house.
There have been multiple investigations into the source of the letters, but nothing has ever turned up.
There are loads of theories about who could be responsible, from local sex offenders to neighbours, and even the family themselves.
Eventually they sold the house years later at a massive loss.
Now, locals in Westfield don’t even like discussing the mystery, and some have even stopped going by the house because it makes them feel ‘weird’.
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Just days after buying the house for $1.35 million, the letters arrived.
The Broaddus family hadn’t moved in yet, although they were undergoing renovations and had moved furniture.
The letter was addressed to ‘The New Owner’ and read: “How did you end up here?
“Did 657 Boulevard [the address] call to you with its force within?”
The author announced that the house had ‘been the subject of my family for decades now and as it approaches its 110th birthday, I have been put in charge of watching and waiting for its second coming'.
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They continue: “My grandfather watched the house in the 1920s and my father watched in the 1960s.
The horrific letter concluded: “It is now my time. Do you know the history of the house?
“Do you know what lies within the walls of 657 Boulevard? Why are you here?
“I will find out.”
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Three letters arrived, filled with details that the writer could only have known if they had extensive knowledge of what was going on at the property.
One said: “I see already that you have flooded 657 Boulevard with contractors so that you can destroy the house as it was supposed to be.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk … bad move. You don’t want to make 657 Boulevard unhappy.
“You have children. I have seen them. So far I think there are three that I have counted.
“Do you need to fill the house with the young blood I requested? Better for me.
“Was your old house too small for the growing family?
“Or was it greed to bring me your children?
“Once I know their names I will call to them and draw them too [sic] me.”
The writer of the letters, according to Derek Broaddus, eventually learned the names, age order, and nicknames of the kids.
Another letter said: “It has been years and years since the young blood ruled the hallways of the house.
“Have you found all of the secrets it holds yet? Will the young blood play in the basement? Or are they too afraid to go down there alone.
“I would [be] very afraid if I were them. It is far away from the rest of the house. If you were upstairs you would never hear them scream.
“Will they sleep in the attic? Or will you all sleep on the second floor? Who has the bedrooms facing the street?
“I’ll know as soon as you move in. It will help me to know who is in which bedroom. Then I can plan better.
“All of the windows and doors in 657 Boulevard allow me to watch you and track you as you move through the house. Who am I?
“I am the Watcher and have been in control of 657 Boulevard for the better part of two decades now.
“The Woods family turned it over to you. It was their time to move on and kindly sold it when I asked them to.
“I pass by many times a day.
“657 Boulevard is my job, my life, my obsession. And now you are too Broaddus family.
“Welcome to the product of your greed! Greed is what brought the past three families to 657 Boulevard and now it has brought you to me.”
Having spoken to the previous owners, they discovered that the Woods had received one letter just before they moved, and the occupants before that had seen no issues in 28 years there.
A man who lived across the street was eventually accused, but police cleared him. His family remain angry to this day, although the man himself died in 2020.
Private investigators hired by the family suggested the writer could have been an older person and could have been an avid reader.
Speculation whirled around the property, with some even suggesting – however implausibly – that The Watcher could even be hiding in the house itself.
Eventually the family managed to offload the house to an anonymous buyer for a $400,000 loss.
As it stands just now, Netflix is currently filming something about the story starring Naomi Watts, although they’ll likely have to play quite fast and loose with the story.
We’ll probably never know who was behind the letters, and the identity of The Watcher.
Topics: US News, Weird, True Crime, Crime
Tom Wood