The chilling letters from The Watcher | Forensic Files

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or on our website in mid 2014 john and andrea woods were busy packing up their possessions into
moving boxes after living at 657 boulevard for the past 23 years the time had come for the
couple to move on located in the affluent suburb of westfield new jersey their striking six bedroom four bathroom
dutch colonial style home was the perfect house to raise a family potential buyers would be further
encouraged by the area's tight-knit community and low crime rate the woods hoped that
the new owners would settle in quickly to the home they had loved in the days before they moved out john
and andrea woods received a letter after reading it herself andrea showed it to john
he disregarded it crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it in the trash the letter had
been signed by someone claiming to be the [Music] watcher [Music] derrick broadus stepped through the
front door of 657 boulevard his wife maria had grown up in the suburb and the two could think of nowhere
better to raise their three young children although they had taken out a hefty mortgage on the nearly 1.4 million
dollar house the broadests couldn't be more excited it was their dream home built in 1905 the house required some
renovations the couple decided to stay in their current residence and get all the
necessary work done before moving in built across 3920 square feet the multi-storey house sat at the end of
a long curved driveway a white columned porch large bay windows and intricate wood and stonework defined
the stately residence it was surrounded by an expanse of manicured lawn dotted with
lush trees and a well-maintained garden [Music] the broadest children aged 10 8 and 5 played in the yard while derek and
maria got to work planning their renovations three days after settlement in june 2014
derek spent the afternoon and evening alone painting the interior of the house just before 10 pm as he was preparing to
leave derek checked the mailbox he pulled out a handful of envelopes mostly bills
and some pamphlets amongst the mail was a handwritten envelope addressed to the new owner
it was written with a thick black pen there was no return address derek opened the envelope
after reading the letter on his porch derek broadus ran back inside and locked the
door behind him he turned off all the lights so the house appeared unoccupied from the
street grabbing the phone he dialed the number for the westfield police department an officer was
dispatched to 657 boulevard and read the letter derek presented to him once he'd finished reading the officer
looked up at derek with a perplexed expression he asked what the [ __ ] is this the typed letter read
dearest the new neighbor at 657 boulevard allow me to welcome you to the neighborhood how did you end up here
did 657 boulevard call to you with its force within 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 it 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 i see already that you have flooded 657
boulevard with contractors so that you can destroy the house as it was supposed to be
tisk tisk task bad move you don't want to make 657 boulevard unhappy i asked the woods to bring me young
blood and it looked like they listened you have children i have seen them so far i think there are three that i
have counted are there more on the way do you need to fill the house with the young blood
i requested better for me was your old house too small for the growing family or was it greed to bring me your
children once i know their names i will call them and to draw them to me who am i there are hundreds and hundreds
of cars that drive past 657 boulevard each day maybe i am in one look at all the
windows you can see from 657 boulevard maybe i am in one look out any of the many windows in 657
boulevard at all the people who stroll by each day maybe i am one welcome my friends welcome let the party
begin signed the watcher because they had been referred to in the latter derrick broadus emailed the
previous owners of number 657 john and andrea woods mentioned the letter they had received from the
watcher just before vacating the property but insisted they weren't particularly
concerned or distressed by its contents at the behest of the producers both couples went to the westfield
police department to officially report the letters assigned to the case was detective
leonard lugo he advised the broadest to keep quiet about the letters particularly to those who lived on the
boulevard he believed that the watcher was someone who lived close by a few days after receiving the letter
the brothers attended a barbecue across the street to welcome them into the neighborhood
according to new york magazine derek and maria were on high alert during the gathering
they eyed others with suspicion and kept their children close the broadcasters agreed to give one of
their friendlier neighbours a tour of their beloved house their anxiety heightened when the
neighbour commented it will be nice to have some young blood in the neighborhood
the renovations continued at six five seven two weeks after they received the unnerving letter
the broadest had yet to move in maria called in to check the mail when she noticed a familiar looking envelope
instead of opening it she took it directly to the westfield police department the letter inside read
welcome again to your new home at 657 boulevard the workers have been busy and i have
been watching you unload carpools of your personal belongings the dumpster is a nice touch have they
found what is in the walls yet in time they will i am pleased to know your names now
and to the name of the young blood you have brought to me you certainly say their names often
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 passed by many times a day 657 boulevard is my job my life my obsession
and now you are too broadest 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 the house is crying from all of the pain
it is going through you have changed it and made it so fancy you are stealing its history it
cries for the past and what used to be in the time when i roamed the talls the 1960s were a good
time for 657 boulevard when i ran from room to room imagining life with the rich occupants
there the house was full of life and a young blood then it got old and so did my father but he kept
watching until the day he died and now i watch and wait for the day when the young blood
will be mine again have a happy moving in day you know i will be watching the letter addressed to the broadcast by
name and included the nicknames that maria called her children the westfield police
conducted surveillance on 657 as derek and maria continued the renovations stressed and on edge they stopped
allowing their children to visit their house and discussed whether they should move
in at all a neighbor at 633 boulevard came forward to say they had also received a letter
from the watcher but they were not particularly concerned by it and had discarded it accordingly
derek and maria were questioned about any enemies they might have none were identified
residing next door to 657 was a man named michael langford michael had lived at the residence since the 1960s
coinciding with the watchers claim in their first letter that their father had watched the
house since then michael now lived with his mother who was in her 90s as well as several of his siblings who
were in their 60s his father had died 12 years prior again corresponding with the line in the
second letter that asserted the watcher had been observing the property for the better part of two decades
known as being a bit odd to the boulevard's residence michael was the first person who popped
into the minds of investigators diagnosed with schizophrenia michael was known to walk through
backyards on the boulevard and occasionally peer into windows he was taken in for questioning but
denied being the watcher or penning any threats his family and to those who knew michael
thought of him as a harmless character incapable of writing the letters with no evidence to keep him in custody
michael langford was released the watches letters and envelopes were sent for forensic testing
no fingerprints were uncovered but a dna sample was extracted from the adhesive used to seal
one of the envelopes the dna determined that whoever had sealed the envelopes was female michael langford's sister
abby was a real estate agent police speculated that she might have been compelled to write
the letters after she missed out on acquiring the property's listing herself they covertly retrieved a water bottle
from her work desk from it they extracted her dna profile it was not a match to the dna found on
the envelope former homeowner angela woods also provided a dna sample but it didn't match either
[Music] the second letter sent to the broadesters also made mention of their daughter painting on an easel on the
porch the close proximity of the langfords to 657 boulevard afforded them one of the few views from
which the easel could be seen with police permission the broadest sent a letter to the langfords
it advised them that they planned to demolish the house on 657 boulevard hoping it would spark an outraged
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help from forensic linguist robert lenahan robert carried out a threat assessment
on the letters based on their vocabulary and the two spaces after each full stop he concluded that
the writer was likely 50 to 60 years of age and an avid reader he browsed the local
forums for language that resembled the contents of the letters there were no matches
a private investigator derrick hyde staked out the neighborhood although they determined that the
langfords were strange they were unable to unearth the watcher derek even turned to a former fbi agent
who had inspired the character of clarice starling in silence of the lambs but to no avail
derek broadus was certain that the langford family were responsible he poured over council plans to see
which houses had views of his property and who would be able to hear his children being called
he also set up multiple webcams around his house according to new york magazine one day a
house painter at the property was working when he noticed something strange he looked out one of the rear windows
the neighbors behind 657 had placed the deck chairs in very close proximity to the boundary
of the two properties instead of facing their own house the couple positioned the chairs to look
straight at six five seven the couple sat on the chairs watching the workers as they renovated
upon investigating this couple it was discovered that their daughter had married a man who lived in 657
previously the promising lead went nowhere all former owners and housekeepers of
657 were also ruled out one by one at eleven o'clock one night police staking out the boulevard
observed a car slow to a stop outside 657 the driver remained motionless in the vehicle for some time
before driving away the car was traced to a woman who resided in a nearby suburb when questioned she claimed that
her boyfriend was driving her car he lived in very close proximity to 657 boulevard
however at the time he was living in a different location she said her boyfriend was known to play
some really dark video games one character he played was called the watcher police contacted the boyfriend who
agreed to an interview when he didn't show a second interview was scheduled he didn't turn up for that one either
without concrete evidence to link this man to being the watcher investigators hands were tired
the men had no legal obligation to assist police with their investigations [Music]
the broadests faced the conundrum they had a beautifully renovated house made to their specifications but
were too afraid to move in derek spent some nights in the attic with the lights off
looking out the windows with a pair of binoculars but the watcher never made an appearance
the broadest family moved in with maria's parents and their grand house sat empty
in february 2015 six months after they had purchased the property the broadest put 657 boulevard
back on the market they asked for nearly 1.5 million dollars 100 000 more than they had purchased it
for with the home's extensive renovations the skyrocketing real estate market and location in one of new jersey's
premier neighborhoods it should have been a quick sell however the watcher had come to the attention of
the local media and there were no interested buyers in june 2015 the broadests filed a lawsuit against the previous
owners of 657 john and andrea woods according to the morning call they argued that they never would have
bought the property had they known there was a person who had a quote mentally disturbed
fixation on their house the broadests were suing for fraud and concealment they believed that the woods should have
disclosed that they had received a letter from the watcher prior to vacating the house
they wanted the woods to refund them the purchase price of the house as well as punitive damages
the lawyer for the broadest explained that they had attempted to sell the house because they are unable to live in the
home without extreme anxiety and fear for their children's safety and well-being
the woods maintained that the letter they received from the watcher was not threatening
they countersued the broadesters claiming they had been defamed by the lawsuit which was gaining considerable media
attention while waiting for the civil suit to be heard the broadest family rented out 657
their tenants were fully aware of the bizarre goings-on at the home the parties had a special rental
agreement it featured a clause that gave the tenants permission to vacate the house
should another letter from the watcher arrive with no children and two large dogs to
protect them the tenants felt confident enough to sign the lease in february 2017 a few weeks after they
moved in an envelope appeared in their letterbox it had been two years since the last
letter from the watcher had been received this time the envelope was addressed violent winds and a bitter cold
to the vile and spiteful derrick and his wench of a wife maria the letter inside asked where have you gone to
657 boulevard is missing you the letter was confiscated by the westfield police department
who initially kept its contents confidential forensic testing failed to uncover any
fingerprints or dna on the ladder or its envelope the tenants agreed to stay on despite
the remainder of the letter containing increasingly violent threats towards the occupants of their house
their only condition was that the broadests install additional security cameras derek promptly did so
in another desperate attempt to offload the house which was now causing them a significant
financial burden the broadest is applied to the westfield planning board their plan was to raise the house they
had put so much work into and subdivide the land into two lots to sell residents in westfield protested the
proposal they argued that smaller lots would be out of character for the community in march 2017
the planning board formally rejected the plan they cited that at 67.4 and 67.6 feet respectively
the subdivided lots would fall two and a half feet short of the mandated 70-foot
required allotment in a further bout of bad luck the civil case lodged by the broadest
was thrown out in october 2017. it was determined that the case could set an unreasonable precedent for what
sellers would need to disclose to potential buyers the broadest is put 657 boulevard back
on the market for the reduced price of 1.1 million dollars the mysterious watcher left the idyllic
westfield area in a state of unease police assured the public that they had conducted a thorough
investigation but admittedly were no closer to solving the case a journalist from a local newspaper
speculated that the broadests themselves could have been responsible for the letters he
theorised that the family might have gotten in over their heads with the mortgage
and were looking for a way to wriggle out of their financial troubles another theory was that the broadests
concocted the entire series of events in order to profit from a potential television or movie deal
the broadests angrily denied these allegations they also copped flack on social media
with users calling them cowards for being scared away from moving into their home
by a couple of letters maria brought us even took a dna test to rule herself out
as a suspect derrick broadus told the today show i was a depressed iraq on july 1 2019 derrick and
maria broadus sold 657 boulevard to another couple for just over 959 thousand dollars
four hundred thousand dollars less than they had purchased the property for five years earlier this also
didn't cover the significant amount of money they put into renovations according to all that's interesting
maria brought us said at the end of the day it came down to what are you going to
risk we weren't going to put our kids in harm's way the broadest decided to stay in
westfield purchasing a modest home in an undisclosed location the watcher eyed the blank sheet of
paper before them with pen in hand they began scribbling across its surface 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 i walked by the news trucks when they took over my neighborhood and democked me
i watched as you watched from the dark house in an attempt to find me telescopes and
binoculars are wonderful inventions they went on to detail how they might cause the broadest family's demise
maybe a car accident maybe a fire maybe something as simple as a mild illness that
never seems to go away that makes you feel sick 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 the watcher then folded the ladder and
slid it inside an envelope they sealed it shut and rode across its front to the vile and spiteful derrick and his
wench of a wife maria the letter rendered you are despised by the house and the watcher one
[Music] this was the final letter penned to the broadest family by the watcher in 2017
no further letters have reportedly been sent to 657 boulevard since the watcher remains
unknown [Music] you

Case 177: 657 Boulevard

657 Boulevard in the affluent neighborhood of Westfield, New Jersey immediately caught the attention of Derek and Maria Broaddus. The striking six bedroom, four bathroom Dutch Colonial style home was the perfect place to raise their family – or so they thought...

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Jessica Forsayeth Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-177-657-boulevard

Brief Summary

The Broadus family receives threatening letters from the "Watcher" after moving into their new home, leading to investigations and legal battles.

Key points

Police Investigation. The police investigate the letters and the previous owners, but leads go cold.
The Watcher's Letter. Derek Broadus receives a chilling letter from someone claiming to be 'The Watcher'.
The Broadus Family's Fear. Despite their beautifully renovated home, the Broadus family is too afraid to move in.
The Broadest Family's Lawsuit. The Broadest family sues the previous owners for fraud, claiming they were misled about the watcher.
The Watcher's Final Letter. The last letter from the watcher reveals their sinister thoughts and threats towards the Broadest family.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

You have children, I have seen them.

The Watcher letter reveals unsettling knowledge about the Broadus family.

9:00WatchMay 29, 2021

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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