The Watcher movie has became a reality for one New Jersey family. The family started to receive anonymous letters from the real life ‘Watcher’ almost immediately following the purchase of a new home. Derek and Maria Broaddus filed a lawsuit against Westfield, their hometown, and have indicated they want to tear down their abode after the planning board rejected a request the couple had filed to raze the house and subdivide the land so they could build two houses. In doing so, they would be saved from the creepy correspondence sent to their current address, a six bedroom dwelling they purchased for themselves and their young children at close to $1.4 million.
The Broaddus’ attorney said, “My clients are good people. They’re caught in a situation they didn’t ask for.” The Broaddus family also sued the home’s previous owners in June 2015, alleging the family who sold it to them had also received a letter from The Watcher, but never disclosed it to them. The previous owners counter sued the Broadduses, stating their lawsuit brought about unwanted media attention. They said while they did indeed receive a letter, it was not threatening in nature.
Much like the movie, the letters have contained creepy, cryptic messages. In one, the writer asks the couple if they brought him the “young blood” he requested. Another said, “I have to be put in charge of watching and waiting for its second coming; my grandfather watched the house in the 1920s and my father watched in the 1960s. It is now my time. Why are you here? I will find out. Now that they have it to flaunt it, they pay the price.” Yet another letter read, “Who am I? I am the Watcher and have been in control of the home for the better part of two decades now.”
An especially chilling note asked the family, “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.” Another one stated, “Have they found out what is in the walls yet? In time they will” leaving the homeowners guessing what, if any foul treasure, lie in the building’s structure.
In the Hollywood film, The Watcher ends up being a menacing neighbor who begins to poison the current homeowner. The same neighbor tormented the previous homeowner until her demise as well. The film’s IMDB page reads “Unaware of its terrible history, a young couple purchases their dream home. But it soon becomes clear that they may not be alone in the house…and that someone — or something — is determined to drive them out.” This is chillingly similar to the real life position in which the Broadduses have found themselves.
Westfield law enforcement has investigated the letters to try and determine who the real life Watcher is. But their efforts have been unsuccessful. The Westfield neighborhood has joined forces to protest the family’s lawsuit. They claim that dividing the property into smaller lots would be unfitting with the community.
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