Where Are Derek and Maria Broaddus Today? The True Story Behind Netflix’s The Watcher

Derek and Maria Broaddus along with the Broaddus family later purchased a second property in Westfield, using an LLC to keep the location confidential and currently live a lowkey life.

In Netflix series, The Watcher, Ryan Murphy is adapting the horrific real story of a couple who believed they had purchased their ideal house in New Jersey.

With its latest series The Watcher, Netflix is bringing to life yet another terrible true crime narrative. The Ryan Murphy thriller, starring Bobby Cannavale and Naomi Watts, follows a married couple who move into their ideal house in New Jersey and are hounded by a stalker.

In 2014, the real-life Broaddus family was harassed by letters from a mysterious writer who dubbed themselves The Watcher. The terrifying messages varied from hauntingly exact facts about their home to threats against their children, as revealed in the unsettling video.

The scariest portion of the story? The stalker was never found. Before the new Netflix series premieres on October 13, read on for additional information about the actual tale on which it is based.

Quick facts

Where Are Derek and Maria Broaddus Today?

The real-life narrative centres around Derek and Maria Broaddus, a married couple who acquired a property in Westfield, New Jersey in 2014.

While Maria grew up in Westfield, Derek grew up in a middle-class family in Maine before landing a job at an insurance business in Manhattan, where he rose to the position of senior vice president “with a salary substantial enough to finance the $1.3 million mansion,” according to The Cut.

The couple purchased the property at 657 Boulevard shortly after Derek celebrated his 40th birthday and began renovations three days later. While the six-bedroom mansion appeared to be a dream home for them and their three children, they soon found it wasn’t as beautiful as it appeared when they began to receive letters from an anonymous stalker known as The Watcher.

The Broaddus family later purchased a second property in Westfield, using an LLC to keep the location confidential, according to The Cut. Talking about their whereabouts today, the pair has subsequently kept a quiet profile, however Derek is still active on Twitter, repeating 657 Boulevard case updates as of today. According to Zillow, the Broaddus family eventually got rid of 657 Boulevard in 2019 when they sold it for around $959,000.

Who was the stalker?

The Broaddus family pursued various leads but ended up empty-handed each time. At one time, they suspected the stalker was their neighbor Michael Langford, whose family had resided in the area since the 1960s, when The Watcher said their father began studying 657 Boulevard.

They also enlisted the help of a private investigator and a retired FBI agent. The stalker might also be someone who was outbid on the house or a former cleaner who was envious that they couldn’t afford to buy the house themselves. People speculated that the Broaddus family was mailing the letters to themselves due to buyer’s regret.

The inquiry had stagnated by the end of 2014, and Westfield police informed the Broaddus family in December that they had exhausted all possibilities. (The stalker has yet to be recognized to this day.)

The True Story Behind Netflix’s The Watcher

The Watcher is based on the events described in Reeves Wiedeman’s 2018 New York Magazine/The Cut story. As mentioned earlier, it is based on the actual tale of Derek and Maria Broaddus, a couple who purchased 657 Boulevard.

Following receipt of the first letter, the couple contacted the previous homeowners, John and Andrea Woods, who disclosed that they, too, had received a note from The Watcher a few days before moving out.

Andrea, on the other hand, claimed they’d never gotten anything like that in the 23 years they’d lived at the house, so they didn’t think much of it. The Broadduses went to the police and were told not to reveal the contents of the letters with their neighbors since authorities assumed one of them had sent it.

Due to the viewing location of his family’s house and the fact that his family was believed to be odd, an inquiry led them to suspect one neighbor in particular, Michael Langford. He was later exonerated, and the Broadduses hired their own private detective to look into the neighborhood.

What Did The Watcher Write In The Letters?

The sender of the letter described themselves as the Watcher, claiming to be the house’s watcher ahead of its “second coming.” The first letter arrived in June 2014, just as the couple began house repairs, and was simply addressed to “The New Owner.”

They received three letters, the second of which identified their children by name and nickname and contained facts that they allege could only have been noticed by someone who was inside the house or quite close to it.

As they continued their hunt for the Watcher, the Broadduses discovered that the previous owners, the Woods, had also gotten a letter soon before they moved out, but had no problems in the preceding 23 years.

Netflix’s The Watcher

Many hypotheses developed, with some, including some Westfield neighbors, thinking the Watcher must dwell within the house’s walls and others, like Reddit, alleging the Broadduses addressed the letters to themselves in a bid to recoup financial losses after having buyer’s remorse.

Netflix has made several alterations to the horrific plot, including altering the names and surnames of the Broadduses. They also only have two children in the series, and they look to be older than the Broadduses were when they initially acquired the property. We’ll have to wait till the show airs to find out if it addresses the riddle of who the Watcher is, or if their identity is also unknown.

What Happened to the Broaddus family?

When the home’s improvements were finished, the family was hesitant to move in with their children. They moved in with Maria’s parents after selling their former house and continuing to pay the mortgage and property taxes on 657 Boulevard.

Six months after receiving the letters, they decided to sell 657 Boulevard, despite the fact that most early bids were significantly below the asking price because to the circulating stories about the house and its stalker.

The pair finally filed a court lawsuit against the former homeowners, the Woodses, in June 2015, claiming that the family should have revealed the Watcher letter they received. They planned to achieve a peaceful conclusion, but the tale of the house went global. The lawsuit was later dismissed by the court.

After trying to sell the house, Derek and Maria decided to sell it to a developer who intended to build two new houses on the land. The deal, however, sparked community outrage and was terminated by the Westfield Planning Board.

The Broadduses found a family to rent the house to shortly after the planning board’s approval. When Derek returned to the house two weeks later to check on a squirrel problem, the tenant handed him another letter from The Watcher.

The letter was written to “the nasty and hateful Derek and his wench of a wife Maria” and was dated February 13, the day the Broadduses gave depositions in their lawsuit against the Woodses. The letter also addressed the tenant, threatening different types of retaliation.

Some FAQs

Where Are Derek and Maria Broaddus Today?

Derek and Maria Broaddus are living a private life now.

Who are Derek and Maria Broaddus?

Derek and Maria Broaddus are the married couple who bought house in Westfield, New Jersey in 2014.

Who sent letters to Derek and Maria Broaddus?

The letters including their family details was sent by The Watcher.

What happened to the Broaddus family?

The Broaddus family did not find who the stalker was, they sold the house for $959,000.