Allow me to welcome you to the neighborhood

Murder by nature

Send us a text

Allow me to welcome you to the neighborhood.” Derek and Maria Broaddus couldn’t have been more excited to move into their dream house at 657 Boulevard in the well-to-do town of Westfield, New Jersey. But as the couple was preparing to settle into the $1.3-million house with their three children, they received this disturbing note in the mail. Signed only “The Watcher,” the letter had no return address. But whoever wrote it seemed to have been watching the Broadduses carefully.

Before the family purchased “The Watcher House” in 2014, the Broadduses was a fairly average suburban family. Maria Broaddus had grown up in Westfield, New Jersey, just blocks away from the house at 657 Boulevard. On the other hand, Derek Broaddus had grown up in Maine in a working-class family. But from his humble beginnings, he had worked his way up to a position as a senior vice-president at a Manhattan insurance company.

One night in June 2014, Derek Broaddus had just finished an evening of painting at his new home in Westfield, New Jersey, when he went outside to check the mail. A white, card-shaped envelope was addressed in thick, clunky handwriting to “The New Owner,” and the typed note inside began warmly:

Dearest new neighbor at 657 Boulevard, Allow me to welcome you to the neighborhood.

“Welcome to Murder By Nature, where we discuss True Crime, Mystery disappearances, and unsolved cases! I’m Jazmin Hernandez, your host!

Thank them for listening and being a part of this community.

Starting Oct 8th, we will be doing short videos on Youtube of our case! I am so excited to move this podcast to be on Youtube for the start of the spooky season. This month we will focus on the case that was inspired by crimes or that inspired the killers to do the crimes. Please stay tuned for our first Youtube video next Saturday!

As the new Netflix show is soon to be released, “The Watcher,” I thought we should jump into the case that sparked the show for the beginning of our spooky season.

References:

• https://www.thecut.com/article/the-haunting-of-657-boulevard-in-westfield-new-jersey.html
• https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/12/us/the-watcher-house-stalker-trnd
• https://allthatsinteresting.com/the-watcher-house
• https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/the-watcher-netflix-stalker-new-jersey-b2175373.html
• https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/owner-n-j-watcher-house-admits-he-sent-some-menacing-n936661
• Redditt.com
• Twitter
• Zillow.com
• https://sites.psu.edu/passionknightly2/2021/03/11/the-watcher/

Support the show