'Everybody was going crazy': Residents recall the wild TRUE story behind Netflix hit show 'The Watcher'
WESTFIELD, NEW JERSEY: A new Netflix TV series has dethroned 'Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story'. 'The Watcher', a thriller made by Ryan Murphy who is known for the anthology series 'American Horror Story', is based on a real incident that happened to the Broaddus family after they moved into a mansion in Westfield, New Jersey at 657 Boulevard in 2014. Ralph Bencivenga, who owns a pastry shop that is less than a mile away from the said property, shares his story of how the series of letters didn't just disturb the family but also "freaked out" the entire town.
As per The Sun, Bencivenga said, "Westfield is a family town. Nothing really happens in Westfield. So when that happened everybody was going crazy." The neighbors near the residence were especially scared and cautious. On learning about the Netflix show based on the incident, Bencivenga said that it wasn't something to brag about but it was "pretty cool."
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It all began when the Derek and Maria Broaddus family bought the house in Westfield for $1.3M in June 2014. Shortly after they moved in, they began receiving ominous anonymous letters from 'The Watcher'. Bencivenga spoke about how "everyone was freaked out.
Bencivenga has been working at the pastry shop since 1985. According to the outlet, when asked about the letters, he said, "It didn’t affect us because we do our normal routine here [at the pastry shoppe], but I know a lot of residents out there that were really scared about the neighborhood." About the resident's reaction to the situation, he added, "Around that neighborhood where the Watcher house was, I think people were just nervous and cautious."
After struggling for a long time, the Broaddus family was able to sell the mansion. However, they had to settle for $400,000 less than the original amount they had bought it for.
A lot of neighbors had mixed reactions to the whole episode. "This was a crazy house," said Kimberly Sorrentino, who has lived on the Boulevard for almost three decades. "It was a bachelor's house before it was a private home. I don’t think much of it, I don’t think it was anything scary,” Sorrentino elaborated, adding, "I would say the car jackings in this town are much more serious than The Watcher."
Another neighbor also said that she wasn't exactly anxious when the event occurred. "Two detectives came ... and I knew that I wasn't part of anything, but it was weird," the neighbor said. The local police were tight-lipped about the matter.
The town in general did not have just one thing to say about the incident. An employee at a waxing salon told the outlet, "It’s probably going to be way more dramatic than the actual story.” A woman at a diner, as per the outlet, claimed that "someone was joking around" at that time.