A Little Less Mess: The Watcher of 657 Boulevard [New Jersey]

In this week's Monday minisode of A Little Less Mess, Cara travels outside the South to the picturesque suburb of Westfield, New Jersey. 

In June 2014, Derek and Maria Broaddus purchased their dream 1.3-million-dollar historic home at 657 Boulevard. But just days after closing—before they even finished moving their three young children in—they found a chilling letter in the mailbox from an anonymous writer calling themselves "The Watcher." Demanding to know when the house would be filled with "young blood" and detailing their renovations in real time, the letters sparked a nightmare of neighbor paranoia, private investigators, a shocking female DNA clue, and an unsolved mystery that left a family with nowhere to run.

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Sources for this episode 

• New York Magazine / The Cut: The Haunting of a Dream House (Reeves Wiedeman, 2018). 
• Westfield Police Department & Union County Prosecutor’s Office: Public investigative case files and DNA forensic records (657 Boulevard Investigation).
• Today Show / NBC News: New Jersey Couple Tormented by 'The Watcher' Speaks Out (Archival Coverage & Interviews).
• Vanity Fair / Time: The Real-Life Unsolved Mystery of The Watcher at 657 Boulevard.