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Watcher house new jerseyWatcher house new jersey. Westfield, NJ ‘The Watcher’ on Netflix: What’s true, what’s fiction
The family tried to size up their neighbors to see if they seemed like Watcher material. The Woods counter-sued, but a judge dismissed the initial lawsuit. Ultimately, the Broadduses, who received other letters from this Watcher, never moved into the house. They planned to demolish the home and replace it with two houses, but the local planning board rejected their application. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust.
I have seen them. 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. 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. Or will you all sleep on the second floor? Who has the bedrooms facing the street? It will help me to know who is in which bedroom. Then I can plan better. Who am I? I am the Watcher and have been in control of 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.
And now you are too Broaddus family. Welcome to the product of your greed! Greed is what brought the past three families to Boulevard and now it has brought you to me. The stately home, which has six bedrooms, is nestled on a quite street about 28 miles from Manhattan; its high-ceilinged dining room is pictured in this Christmas photo taken by a previous owner.
There were no issues. It was a beautiful place to grow up. That prompted a separate lawsuit by Derek and Maria Broaddus — which also was dismissed. Erin Vogt is a reporter and anchor for New Jersey You can reach her at erin. Click here to contact an editor about feedback or a correction for this story. Erin Vogt Published: September 29, Share on Facebook Share on Twitter.
These NJ towns have the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases Looking at data compiled by the Department of Health in , the most recent year for which reports are available, we determined the rate of STDs for 1, people in every municipality. The data combines reports of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis. What else should be on this list? LOOK: What are the odds that these 50 totally random events will happen to you?
I have seen them. 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 envelope had no return address. Maybe I am in one. Look at all the windows you can see from Boulevard. Look out any of the many windows in Boulevard at all the people who stroll by each day. Maybe I am one.
It was after 10 p. He raced around the house, turning off lights so no one could see inside, then called the Westfield Police Department. Derek rushed back to his wife and kids, who were living at their old home elsewhere in Westfield. That day, the Woodses went with Maria to the police station, where Detective Leonard Lugo told her not to tell anyone about the letters, including her new neighbors, most of whom she had never met — and all of whom were now suspects.
The Broadduses spent the coming weeks on high alert. Derek canceled a work trip, and whenever Maria took the kids to their new house, she would yell their names if they wandered into a corner of the yard. Two weeks after the letter arrived, Maria stopped by the house to look at some paint samples and check the mail. She recognized the thick black lettering on a card-shaped envelope and called the police. The dumpster is a nice touch. Have they found what is in the walls yet? In time they will.
The Watcher boasted of having learned a lot about the family in the preceding weeks, especially about their children. The letter continued:. 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? It will help me to know who is in which bedroom. Then I can plan better. All of the windows and doors in 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 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. And now you are too Braddus family. Welcome to the product of your greed! Greed is what brought the past three families to Boulevard and now it has brought you to me. Derek and Maria stopped bringing their kids to the house. They were no longer sure when, or if, they would move in.
Several weeks later, a third letter arrived. Many Westfield residents compare their town to Mayberry, the idyllic setting for The Andy Griffith Show — the kind of place where a new neighbor might greet you with a welcoming note. Westfield is 86 percent white. One activity all locals recognized as treacherous is trying to buy a house. Built in , Boulevard was perhaps the grandest home on the block, and when the Woodses put it on the market, they had received multiple offers above their asking price.
That led the Broadduses to initially suspect that The Watcher might be someone upset over losing out on the house. But the Woodses said one interested buyer had backed out after a bad medical diagnosis, while another had already found a different home. The letters did indicate proximity. They had been processed in Kearny, the U. The first was postmarked June 4, before the sale was public — the Woodses had never put up a for sale sign — and only a day after the contractors arrived. When Derek and Maria walked Detective Lugo around the house, they showed him that the easel on the porch was hidden from the street by vegetation, making it difficult to see unless someone was behind the house or right next door.
A few days after the first letter, Maria and Derek went to a barbecue across the street welcoming them and another new homeowner to the block. At one point, Derek was chatting with John Schmidt, who lived two doors down, when Schmidt told him about the Langfords, who lived between them. Peggy Langford was in her 90s, and several of her adult children, all in their 60s, lived with her. The family was a bit odd, Schmidt said, but harmless.
Derek thought the case was solved. The Langford house was right next to the easel on the porch. When the Broadduses told Lugo about the family, he said he already knew, and a week after the first letter arrived, he brought Michael Langford to police headquarters for an interview.
Frustrated, the Broadduses began their own investigation. Derek became especially obsessed. He set up webcams in Boulevard and spent nights crouched in the dark, watching to see if anyone was watching the house at close range. Only a few homes fit both criteria. The Broadduses also turned to several experts.
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