There’s no mystery that hits quite as hard as an unsolved mystery . There’s just something about the nature of a story that stubbornly refuses to be solved, despite everyone’s best efforts.
A spooky new Netflix story focuses on a couple that’s unable to figure out who’s watching them from a distance. But this story isn’t fiction. In fact, it’s based on something that happened in real life.
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‘The Watcher’ premieres in October of 2022.
The seven-episode miniseries was created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, and concerns the lives of a couple — played by Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale — who start receiving mysterious notes shortly after moving into their dream home.
It’s based on something that really happened in Westfield, New Jersey.
This longform article by The Cut from 2018 contains all of the details that were known at the time. Starting in June of 2014, shortly after they bought a six-bedroom home at 657 Boulevard in Westfield, New Jersey, the Broaddus family started receiving threatening letters.
The letters were super creepy.
A typical letter reads:
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.
The watcher was clearly, well, watching.
Because the letters detailed the family’s vehicles and day-to-day activities, it was clear that the writer was observing the house.
“You have children,” read one letter. “I have seen them. So far I think there are three that I have counted.”
Who was it?
With no return address on the letters, the Broaddus family sought answers. The previous tenants of the house said they never received anything while they lived there — but did get a strange note shortly after they sold the place and moved into their new house.
Police had no answers.
The taunting, threatening letters continued, and made clear that the Watcher was learning more about the family — particularly their names and details about the three Broaddus kids. At this point, the family stopped bringing their kids to the house.
Are we any closer to cracking the case?
It’s been a year since the Netflix series based on the case was announced, four years since the article was written, and eight years since the letters began. While theories abound, there are still no concrete answers about the case.
The Watcher probably lived in the house at one point in time.
In a more recent follow-up to the story, it’s stated that the letter writer is likely someone who lived at 657 Boulevard, based on their knowledge of the house and outright acknowledging that they’d been inside.
Is it a big hoax?
There’s another theory: one that says the Broaddus family is making up the story for attention. But that doesn’t seem likely.
“Maria was distraught every time I saw her. She was shaking,” said Vince Gagliardi, an investigator who worked on the case. “I can tell you this: if Maria Broaddus was faking, she should play herself in the movie.”
The Broaddus family has moved on.
Now that the family has moved on and the new occupants haven’t received similar letters, it seems like we’ve reached an impasse. Short of a new batch of letters, a confession, or a DNA match, it seems like this one will go unsolved.
It’ll be interesting to see how Netflix handles the story.
Ryan Murphy is an experienced horror director, so viewers are likely in for a spooky time when the series drops.
Let us know what you think of this perplexing mystery in the comments section.
h/t: The Cut
