What to Know
- Owners of "Watcher" home in Westfield, New Jersey sold the property at a loss, according to a published report and the deed
- Derek and Maria Broaddus's dream home turned into a nightmare when they started receiving creepy, threatening letters from anonymous stalker
- The stalker, known as “The Watcher,” claimed his family owns the property and has been watching the home for nearly a century
The owners of a house, considered by some as one of the creepiest in New Jersey thanks to series of spooky letters sent by an apparent anonymous stalker alleging the house is being “watched”, sold the sprawling six-bedroom property at a $500,000 loss, according to a published report.
The “Watcher” house, at the center of an unsolved criminal investigation in Westfield, was sold in July, according to Bloomberg, citing a deed filed with the Union County clerk’s office. News 4 also obtained a copy of the deed.
Derek and Maria Broaddus, who bought the 1905 Dutch colonial revival in June 2014 and never moved in, sold it to a couple for $959,360, records show, according to the report.
The couple had bought their dream house in Westfield only to quickly move out after it turned into a nightmare when they started receiving creepy and sometimes threatening letters from an anonymous stalker.
The stalker, known as “The Watcher,” claimed his family owns the property and has been watching the home for nearly a century.
The couple even filed a lawsuit against the former owners of the Westfield home, saying they knew about the "The Watcher" before they sold them the home in 2014. A judge threw out the remaining counts of the civil lawsuit.
The family ultimately decided they couldn’t live in the house after receiving the letters, which contained threats toward their children. The family put the house on the market in 2016 and again in 2017.
In a previously published interview, the couple said they moved in with Maria’s parents as they dealt with the spooky ordeal.
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“657 Boulevard has 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,” the first letter read, according to New York Magazine.
“My grandfather watched the house in the 1920s and my father watched in the 1960s. 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,” the letter went on to say.
Subsequent letters allegedly made disturbing mentions of the Broaddus’ children.
“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,” one letter read, according to the outlet.
The Broaddus family was eventually able to find renters who didn’t mind living at the property.
The spooky story involving the house even landed the property on Thrillist’s List of creepiest urban legends.
Netflix also caught wind of the alleged events surrounding the home and won a bidding battle for the film rights to “The Watcher” tale.
