Westfield Watcher Mystery Detailed In Buzzfeed Crime Series

WESTFIELD, NJ - The mystery of the Westfield Watcher, the saga of the anonymous letter writer who sent menacing missives with disturbing references to the three children of new homeowners Derek and Maria Broaddus, is being explored by the Buzzfeed web series UNSOLVED.

BuzzFeed's "Unsolved," hosted by Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej, featured the Westfield Watcher case on the first episode of its fifth season, which was released Friday on their YouTube channel.

Begara and Madej discuss unsolved crimes, haunted places, alleged demonic possessions and historical occurrences in the show. While the topics of discussion are often morbid, most episodes are presented in some form of a comedic manner. Indeed, the duo does mock the "Watcher" situation and the letters themselves throughout the video.

After receiving the threats, the family said they were too scared to move in to the six-bedroom house due to the alleged threats the letters contained such as "allow me to watch you and track you as you move through the house."

• See Related: 'The Watcher' Home Saga Continues; Former Owners Seeking Damages
• See Related: Westfield 'Watcher' Lawsuit Won't Be Dismissed, Judge Rules
• See Related: Westfield 'Watcher' Home Is For Sale Again

Up until a report that was published online in The Cut, only a handful of phrases from The Watcher's letters were known to the public. When the full accounting of the text was revealed, Patch assembled a list of ten things that creeped us out the most.

The story caught the attention of Hollywood and the streaming company Netflix purchased the feature rights to the tale, according to a report from Deadline.

Netflix won the feature rights to the deal after a "ferocious bidding battle" that involved six studios that included Universal for Jason Blum, Warner Bros for Roy Lee, Paramount for JJ Abrams' Bad Robot, Amazon for producer Michael Sugar and Fox for Peter Chernin.

Beyond the community consternation and hardship for the impacted family, the Watcher story spawned international news coverage. In October the website Thrillist said the Watcher story was the top Urban Legend in New Jersey, surpassing the Jersey Devil.
Closer to home, the story fueled the creation of an award-winning gingerbread house, complete with candy letters on the front porch.

For their part, the Broaddus family has tried to sell the home several times. First in May of 2015 for $1,250,000 and again in March of 2016 for the same price. The price was reduced in November of 2016 to 1,199,000 and the property was listed again in October of 2017 for $1,125,000. The home was listed March 13 at the new asking price of $999,000.

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