‘The Watcher’ on Netflix: What happened to 657 Boulevard and where is the Broaddus family now?
WESTFIELD, NEW JERSEY: With a new strategy of breaking viewership records, Netflix dropped its brand new spine-tingling mystery series ‘The Watcher’ recently, injecting a new aspect into the genre of true crime by shedding light on a real incident. Created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, the eight-episode series retains the skeleton structure of a 2018 article for New York’s ‘The Cut’ by Reeves Wiedeman.
The series depicts the story of the Brannock family, who move into their dream home in Westfield, New Jersey. But instead of receiving housewarming gifts, the family is greeted by a series of anonymous horrific and threatening letters. The real-life case incident from 2014 attracted the interest of traditional media and conspiracy theory YouTube channels alike. While the series managed to get big thumbs up from the critics, it somewhere disappointed the audience with its ending. But is it the real ending? If not, then what is the status of the real ‘The Watcher’ case now? Read on to know.
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The spooky ordeal began in 2014 when a loving couple, Derek and Maria Broaddus, poured in every penny of their savings to purchase their $1.3 million dream home in Westfield, New Jersey, located just roads from where Maria grew up. The couple and their three children moved into their dream home 657 Boulevard, unaware of the series of vicious incidents that were going to happen to them.
During the renovation of the house, the family received the first letter which described the history of the house and warned, “You don’t want to make 657 Boulevard unhappy.” Signed “The Watcher” and sent without a return address, a subsequent letter later properly identified the names of the Broaddus children, inquiring about “the young blood I requested.”
Soon, they received a second letter that listed their children and detailed every minor detail about them. They soon received a third letter that said they knew the family was not planning on moving into the house. All the horror letters were written in the same rough handwriting and had a sign-off from The Watcher, written in cursive writing. Spooked by the letters, the couple contacted the family who lived in the house before them to inquire about the letter. The family also revealed that they did receive an odd letter just a day before they moved out. The couple then decided to hire a private investigator to unwrap the identity of the suspicious watcher.
But when their investigator failed to collect any lead, Derek and Maria went to the police, who immediately launched an investigation into the matter. The search bred suspicion around every corner of the Westfield neighborhood surrounding 657 Boulevard. From postmen to service providers, every individual was interrogated by the officials during the search. After months of investigation, when the investigator failed to find a solid lead, the case was handed over to the Union County Prosecutor’s Office, which began the investigation from scratch. However, the result was still the same.
But a new ray of relief came for Derek and Maria when the article published by The Cut in 2018 led to the last try executed by the prosecutor's office. During the investigation, the forensic team found a DNA sample on the under flap of one of the envelopes the couple received. The DNA testing revealed that it was a woman who had licked the envelope shut. Following this lead, the prosecutor asked the community members for voluntarily DNA samples. A month later, whilst the neighbors were cooperative, none of them had been a DNA match.
Tired of the whole investigation, the Broadduses decided to sell their dream house. In March 2019, the Broaddus family finally sold the infamous property for approximately $959,000, according to Zillow, below their already discounted asking price of $999,000.
Reportedly, the Broaddus family two years ago asked the prosecutor's office to close the case and give them the letters and DNA evidence so they could give it to the forensic genealogy company themselves. But the office refused to hand over the evidence, saying that while the investigation isn’t active, it isn’t closed.
Now, the case can only be solved either via a confession or a DNA match. The family said their request to the prosecutor's office still stands. However, the identity of ‘The Watcher’ still remains a mystery.