The New Jersey family that lived in the Watcher house – where they were subjected to terrorizing anonymous letters – have spoken out on their horrifying experience.
From June 2014 to February 2017, the Watcher sent Derek and Maria Broaddus four letters to their Westfield home at 657 Boulevard.
‘It’s like cancer,’ Derek Broaddus said in an interview with New York Magazine. ‘Sometimes, I wake up in the middle of the night thinking, ‘What would my life be like if this didn’t happen?’ We lost Christmas a couple times, and you don’t get that back.’
Derek shared that the anonymous letters really left him in a shook state.
‘I was a depressed wreck,’ he added.
From June 2014 to February 2017, the Watcher sent Derek and Maria Broaddus four letters to their Westfield home at 657 Boulevard
According to the Watcher, observance over the house had been passed down through the family
Maria Broaddus admitted that the letters from the Watcher left her with terrifying nightmares, including one with a man ‘wearing these boots and carrying a pitchfork and calling to the kids.’
According to the Watcher, observance over the house had been passed down through the family.
‘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 letters stated.
‘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.’
Police suspect that the letters came from someone who was within a 300-yard radius of the house
The letters kept the family on edge, especially around the people living in their community. Maria relived the horrors surrounding a barbecue that the family went to.
‘People must have thought we were crazy,’ Maria said. ‘We kept screaming [at the kids] to stay close.’
And they had reason to fear for their kids as the Broaddus couple received letters that specifically mentioned their 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?’ a letter read. ‘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.’
The couple insisted that they weren’t making up the letters.
The Broaddus’ (Derek Broaddus pictured right) sued the prior owners, John Woods (left) and his wife Andrea, in 2015 claiming they also received a letter from ‘The Watcher’ but never disclosed it
‘There’s a natural tendency to say, “I’ve lived here for 35 years; nothing’s happened to me,”‘ Derek said. ‘What happened to my family is an affront to their contention that they’re safe, that there’s no such thing as mental illness in their community. People don’t want to believe this could happen in Westfield.’
Police suspect that the letters came from someone who was within a 300-yard radius of the house – which has a new tenant.
But Derek believes that there are a specific group of people who did the letter.
‘In my view, it’s one of 10 houses in the world,’ he said.
They sued the prior owners of the house in June 2015, claiming that they also received a letter from ‘The Watcher’ but never disclosed it.
The couple eventually were able to get a family to rent out the home after they were unable to sell it.