The new Netflix show The Watcher is getting a lot of attention because of its unsettling subject matter. The new limited series stars Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale as parents who move to a quiet neighborhood to raise their children.
Soon after they move in, mysterious, threatening letters start appearing – without a return address. The letters get more and more specific, naming their children and sharing specific details only the family would know.
The show is getting the Hollywood treatment with big-name actors like Jennifer Coolidge, Mia Farrow, Margo Martindale, Christopher McDonald and Richard Kind all appearing in the series. Perhaps the craziest part of the whole thing is that the real-life case the show is based on was never solved.
Here’s the official logline courtesy of Netflix:
After the Brannock family moves into what was supposed to be their suburban dream home, it quickly becomes a living hell. Ominous letters from someone calling themself “The Watcher” are just the beginning as the neighborhood’s sinister secrets come spilling out. Inspired by the true story of the infamous “Watcher” house in New Jersey.
So what’s the real story? Read on to find out.
Who is the real family The Watcher is based on?
In the show, Watts and Carnavale play a fictional couple called the Brannocks. The real life couple is named Derek and Maria Broaddus. They bought a home in Westfield, New Jersey back in 2014 for $1.3 million.
Derek worked as a senior vice president at an insurance company in Manhattan, so he had a large salary with enough to afford the house, according to a deep dive by The Cut. Derek had just turned 40 and wanted to renovate the house quickly and move in.
The six-bedroom house went from a dream to a nightmare when the letters started to show up. In the real life story, four letters were sent.
What did the letters to the Broaddus family say?
The first letter came during renovations. It had no return address and the only thing on the envelope were the words “The New Owner.”
“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. 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.”
They were understandably freaked out. The letter mentioned the make and model of the family car and chastised the couple for renovating:
“I see already that you have flooded 657 Boulevard with contractors so that you can destroy the house as it was supposed to be. Tsk, tsk, tsk … bad move. You don’t want to make 657 Boulevard unhappy.” They signed the letter in cursive as “The Watcher.”
When Derek and Maria reached out to the previous owners of the house, they revealed they received a letter from The Watcher a couple days before they moved out. However, it was the only letter of it’s kind they got and they lived in the house for 23 years, so they shrugged it off.
The second letter was even more unsettling. It had personal information about their children, which included when they were born and what nicknames the family used. The writer also misspelled their names but got pretty close, calling them “Mr. and Mrs. Braddus.”
Here’s the letter, courtesy of The Cut.
“657 Boulevard is anxious for you to move in. 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? 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.
All of the windows and doors in 657 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 657 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. 657 Boulevard is my job, my life, my obsession. And now you are too Braddus family. Welcome to the product of your greed! Greed is what brought the past three families to 657 Boulevard and now it has brought you to me.
Have a happy moving in day. You know I will be watching.”
After that letter, the kids were no longer allowed at the house and they faced the tough decision whether to move in or sell the house. Since they weren’t around as much, a third letter arrived.
“Where have you gone to?” it said. “657 Boulevard is missing you.”
The fourth letter arrived after the couple rented the house to someone else. Derek went to the house to deal with a problem with squirrels and the renter handed him another letter. The road to finally renting out the house was a long one, and Derek previously tried to raze the house and sell the land.
That plan was unfortunately denied by the city planning board. The final letter was addressed “To the vile and spiteful Derek and his wench of a wife Maria.”
“You wonder who The Watcher is? Turn around idiots. Maybe you even spoke to me, one of the so called neighbors who has no idea who The Watcher could be. Or maybe you do know and are too scared to tell anyone. Good move.”
The Watcher referred to the media coverage, writing, “I walked by the news trucks when they took over my neighborhood and mocked me” and Derek’s attempts to identify the stalker: “I watched as you watched from the dark house in an attempt to find me … Telescopes and binoculars are wonderful inventions.”
Finally, the letter referenced the proposed bulldozing of the house and subsequent land sale.
“657 Boulevard survived your attempted assault and stood strong with its army of supporters barricading its gates. My soldiers of the Boulevard followed my orders to a T. They carried out their mission and saved the soul of 657 Boulevard with my orders. All hail The Watcher!!!”
The letter also threatened the renter:
“Maybe a car accident. Maybe a fire. Maybe something as simple as a mild illness that never seems to go away but makes you feel sick day after day after day after day after day. Maybe the mysterious death of a pet. Loved ones suddenly die. Planes and cars and bicycles crash. Bones break.”
Who is the real life Watcher?
The short answer is nobody knows, but it not for lack of trying. Derek and Maria threw all of their resources at the issue after authorities tried and failed to catch the culprit. A man named Michael Langford was brought in for questioning but denied knowing anything.
The family then hired investigators and set up webcams around the house. They thought maybe it was someone they outbid for the property. Maybe it was a former housekeeper. There was even a story that the family made everything up themselves.
Authorities eventually told the couple they ran out of leads. Detectives hired by the Broaddus family came to a few conclusions. One was that the culprit lived nearby and another was that it was an older person.
At one point the neighborhood was swabbed for DNA, but there’s no match yet. Authorities say either a match or a confession is the only way the case gets solved.
Did the Broaddus family move?
When the renovations on the house were complete, the family didn’t want to move into the house and instead moved in with Maria’s parents. Despite not moving in to the house, they continued to pay the mortgage and property taxes.
The eventually made the decision to sell, although the only bids they got were way below asking. They filed a legal complaint against the previous homeowners as well, arguing that the couple should have warned them about the letter. A judge dismissed the lawsuit.
They put the house up for $999,000. The realtor they used to sell was the same one they used to buy the property. “Endless character and features in this one of a kind home. Must be seen in person!!!” the listing said.
A family eventually agreed to buy the house for $959,000, which was a $400,000 loss from the asking price. They also lost the $100,000 property taxes, not to mention the utility bills and investigation bills and renovation bills. Derek paid a mortgage of $5,495.13 for 60 months for a house his family never lived in.
They sent the new family a note: “We wish you nothing but the peace and quiet that we once dreamed of in this house.” They attached a photograph that contained The Watcher’s handwriting in case more letters started to show up. None ever did. Yet.
The Watcher premiers on Netflix on Oct. 13.
