Hello people, welcome back to Cold Case Mysteries with Rohith Koneru, I am your host Rohith Koneru and you already know I have a good case today. I will be honest, due to my addiction with the game Bad Piggies, I have found myself in a situation where I only have an hour to write this post, so I might skip over some stuff. However, I guarantee you will be entertained as I am reviewing the creepiest case so far that has even been turned into a Netflix series. This case involves a million-dollar house, a gamer, and young blood??? Let’s get started.

In June 2014, Maria and Derek Broaddus, along with their 3 children, fell victim to a series of stalker attacks after moving into their new home at 657 Boulevard in Westfield, New Jersey, the then 30th safest town in the US. This stalker has been active as late as 2017 and I swear I saw him outside my window the other day after learning about this case. Who knows, you might see him too after reading this post.

657 Boulevard was the Broaddus family’s dream home as they were ecstatic to move into the 1.3 million dollar home, for about 3 days. Only three days after the Broaddus family purchased the house, they received a letter in the mail which was addressed to “The New Owner”. The letter started off with a greeting but took a full 180, it read,

“Dearest new neighbor of 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 in the 1960s. It is now my time.

Who am I?… There are hundreds and hundreds of cars that drive by 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. … You have children. I have seen them. So far I think there are three that I have counted. … 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 to them and draw them to me.” 

– The Watcher

This guy is giving me some weirdo vibes, the way he says “It is now my time” like he is in some sort of anime is kind of funny and makes me think that he is a grown man living in his mom’s basement or something like that. If Beetlejuice or Ice JJ Fish came out as the watcher I would not be surprised. Imagine the family’s disappointment when they expected a welcoming gift but got this atrocity of a letter instead.

After receiving this letter, the family reached out to the previous owners, the Woods family. In the previous 2 decades of living at 657 Boulevard, the Woods family said they have only received a letter from the watcher once, a couple days before they moved out. They ended up throwing out the letter without a second thought. The Woods family said they never felt watched when living at the house and rarely left their doors locked

I think the Woods family just didn’t mention the watcher to the Broaddus family to be honest. They probably mentioned that the house comes with 6 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms but they never mentioned that it came with a Watcher as well. If they did mention the Watcher, the value of the house probably would’ve decreased and they wouldn’t have secured the bag. Smart move.

The two families soon reported the letters to the police and all of the neighbors were deemed suspects. This was also kept a secret from everybody. 

Two weeks later, Ice JJ Fish struck again with another letter, this time more creepy. The letter mentioned specific things like the children’s birth order and nicknames. It also referenced the Broaddus’ daughter painting on an easel asking, “Is she the artist in the family.” The letter goes on to say “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.”

After receiving this, the family stopped visiting the house and halted their move altogether. Time went on and there were no leads on the case, no fingerprints, and no suspects. Both the parents suffered from mental health problems and it didn’t help that nobody would buy the house from them because of the Watcher. I know I was making fun of him before, but Ice JJ Fish has taken it too far. He also has to stop calling the kids “Young Blood”, it doesn’t sound cool when a stalker who lives in their mom’s basement says it. The Broaddus family even tried suing the Woods family, but the judge just threw the case out.

Two years after the first letter, the Broaddus family FINALLY found someone that would rent the house, but under one condition: they could back out if another letter arrived. I think you can guess what happens next.

The letter was addressed to “The vile and spiteful Derek and his wench of a wife Maria.” A bit harsh my friend, you can’t really insult this family when you still live in your mom’s basement after TWO YEARS. The letter went on to say “657 Boulevard survived your attempted assault and stood strong with its army of supporters barricading its gates… My soldiers of the Boulevard followed my orders to a T. They carried out their mission and saved the soul of 657 Boulevard with my orders. All hail The Watcher!!! … Maybe a car accident. Maybe a fire. Maybe something as simple as a mild illness that never seems to go away but makes you fell sick day after 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. You are despised by the house… and The Watcher won.”

This feels like a scene straight out of Despicable Me. The Watcher is Gru and his minion soldiers have successfully driven the Broaddus family out of the house. ALL HAIL THE WATCHER.

THEORIES:

The first suspect is a guy nicknamed “The Gamer”, exactly what I have in mind. One night when 2 police were surveying 657 Boulevard, a car suspiciously pulled over next to the house at 11 P.M. and then drove off. The car was traced to a young woman whose boyfriend lived on the same block as 657 Boulevard. The young woman told police that her boyfriend played some weird video games including one where he played as a character named the Watcher. 

I am willing to bet my firstborn that these two have broken up. Just imagine the argument they would’ve had after the boyfriend found out that his girlfriend told the police he plays weird video games that could link him to the case. 

On a serious note, because of the way the media portrays video games, I highly doubt that this theory is true. If everybody was judged by what games they played, half of all the 7th graders in America would be on death row for killing their friends and family on Fortnite. This theory could be true, but it is just speculation and I think that Ice JJ fish is a better suspect tbh.

Another theory is that the Broaddus family was behind it all. People found it odd that the family was able to move from a cheap home to an expensive home in such a short time and suspect that the home was too expensive for the family, so they came up with the Watcher as a way to get out of paying for the house. Maybe the family was aiming for big media deals for their story and if they were, it worked like a charm as the Broaddus family made upwards of 10 million from the Netflix show.

It’s a far-fetched theory, but I like it.

Even though this case took place recently, authorities were still not able to name a prime suspect. The Broaddus family may have been able to secure the bag, but they were not able to secure their house or their mental health. Either way, this mystery remains unsolved.

ALL HAIL THE WATCHER

SOURCES:

https://www.thecut.com/2022/10/the-watcher-657-boulevard-update.html