The Watcher: Where is the Broaddus Family now and what did they experience living in their New Jersey "dream home"?

Netflix quickly brought story rights to the fascinating and unsettling case of "The Watcher," who threatened the Broaddus family out of their dream home. The Watcher was an alleged stalker who sent anonymous and threatening letters to the family in 2014.

The family, who bought the colonial home for nearly $1.4 million in 2014 ended up never moving in there. After an unsuccessful lawsuit against the previous owners, Derek and Maria Broaddus sold the house for a nearly $400,000 loss in 2019.

Now, with its new series titled The Watcher, Netflix is set to chronicle the tale with some dramatic twists. The Ryan Murphy series will premiere on October 13, 2022, and will star Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale.

Derek and Maria allegedly started receiving anonymous letters shortly after they bought the house. The first letter read:

"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."

After experiencing such difficult circumstances, the Broaddus family moved to a different home under an LLC to maintain the privacy of their new address. Not much is available about their current ongoings online.

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What happened to the Broaddus family and why did they sell off their dream house?

Derek and Maria Broaddus brought their dream house at 657 Boulevard in Westfield, N.J., for a reported amount of $1,355,657 in 2014. They also spent around $100,000 on renovations. The colonial-style house, built in 1905, had everything that a house-seeker would have wanted and yet, the Broaddus' never ended up moving in there.

Approximately three days after confirming the purchase, Mr. Broddus received the first letter from an anonymous source who called himself the Watcher. He received multiple other letters after this.

One of the letters, according to sources, read, in part:

"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? "

The letter also seemingly threatened Derek and Maria's children, wondering if the "young blood" would play in the basement." It went on to add:

"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."

This put the Broaddus family in a difficult position and they sought help from the authorities. Despite deep surveys and help from outside sources, no one could track the letters back anywhere. They also reportedly hired a private investigator to look into the matter, but even that turned out to be unsuccessful.

The Broaddus family sued the previous owner, Richard J. Kaplow, who also received a note from The Watcher days before he moved out. The Kaplows claimed that they had lived there peacefully. The lawsuit was later dismissed and the Broaddus family did not move into the house at all, but tried to put it back on the market.

After years of unsuccessful attempts at selling the house, they finally lowered the price and disclosed information about The Watcher and the letters. The house was finally sold in 2019 at approximately $959,000.

As mentioned earlier, the Broaddus family moved away and not much is know about their current whereabouts.