This article contains discussion surrounding real-life crimes that include stalking and murder.
The Watcher true story is stranger than any fiction a writer could dream up. Ryan Murphy’s 2022 Netflix miniseries chronicles a stalker who threatens a family after they move to a new home. The foundation of The Watcher‘s storyline is the mysterious real-life events that unfolded around the Broaddus family — changed to Brannock in the show — when they purchased a suburban New Jersey home at 657 Boulevard. However, to add more heft to the true story’s intrigue, the show stretches reality, and as a result, The Watcher is a mix of true story and pure fiction.
When it comes to The Watcher‘s portrayal of the titular perpetrator, the show is spot-on about their shocking letters and negative impact on the family. The Watcher dips its feet into fiction when it draws parallels between The Watcher case and a forgotten crime that haunted 657 Boulevard’s neighborhood. Its storyline becomes even less believable — although arguably more interesting — when it reveals a labyrinth of empty tunnels existing below 657 Boulevard. There are also a few elements in the storyline that are hard to believe but are based on the experiences of the Broaddus family.
The Real Location Of The Watcher House Explained
The True Crime Took Place In New Jersey
As portrayed in Netflix’s The Watcher, the location of the house is 657 Boulevard in Westfield, New Jersey. However, instead of using the original location’s zip code (07090), the series changes it to 11537. Netflix’s The Watcher accurately shows that Derek and Maria Broaddus, whose names are changed to Dean and Nora Brannock in the show, bought the house for $1.36 million but were never informed about letters in the Watcher case by the previous owners. Through John Graff’s story arc, the Netflix true-crime series draws references to a real family murder, which shook the otherwise idyllic community.
To add layers of drama to an otherwise simple true tale, the series shows an underground passageway beneath the property that did not exist in the real home.
The crime happened in November 1971, when Westfield resident John List killed his wife, mother, and three children before going into hiding (via ABC News). The series takes creative liberties with its depiction of the actual home’s layout from The Watcher true story. To add layers of drama to an otherwise simple true tale, the series shows an underground passageway beneath the property that did not exist in the real home. In addition, the filming location for the Netflix series is also relatively bigger than the original home and located in Rye, New York, instead of Westfield, New Jersey.
Related
The Watcher Cast & Character Guide
In its seven-episode runtime, Netflix’s The Watcher features a roster of characters, with Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale playing the leading roles.
The Real Letters Of The Watcher Case Explained
The Mysterious Letters Are Even More Chilling In Real Life
The real perpetrator in The Watcher true story initially wrote three letters to Maria and Derek Broaddus (played in the cast of The Watcher by Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale). The first one reached them soon after they bought the property in June 2014 and was addressed to “The New Owner.” Although the letter started on a warm note by welcoming the family to their new neighborhood, it drifted into a threatening tone as it progressed. The Watcher case was heavily reported on after the fact, and many of the specific details surfaced.
The letters to the real-life Broaddus family that The Watcher is based on were the subject of analysis, and featured eerie messages (via The Cut):
”
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. Do you know the history of the house? Do you know what lies within the walls of 657 Boulevard? Why are you here? I will find out.”
As Ryan Murphy’s TV series accurately depicts, the Watcher also warns them that renovating the house and destroying its heritage will make “657 Boulevard unhappy” and claims that they would lure the Broadduses’ three children to them. The second letter reaches the family a few weeks after the first and is followed by the third a month later. There is also a fourth letter, which arrived three years after the third one. However, it was presumably a copycat’s work because of its angrier tone and relatively different writing style.
Why Did The Broaddus Family Sue The Previous Owners Of The Watcher House?
The Woods Family Knew About The Watcher
John and Andrea Woods, the previous owners of the house, also received a threatening letter from The Watcher. However, they did not disclose this to the Broaddus family before selling them the home. Consequently, one year after the new family bought the house, they decided to take legal action against the Woods by filing a complaint . While at it, they tried their best to avoid the media’s involvement in the story, but one reporter found out about the house and triggered the chain reaction that made The Watcher true story go viral.
The Broadduses Did Not Initially Tell Their Children About The Letters In The Watcher True Story
Derek And Maria Tried To Keep Their Kids Safe Through Hiding The Truth
Dean and Nora’s children Elie (Isabel Gravitt) and Cater (Luke David Blumm) learn about the Watcher case letters from the beginning of the Netflix adaptation. However, the real parents, Derek and Maria, kept their children in the dark for a long time before telling them about the house and the letters. Only when their dire situation garnered the media’s attention did they decide to tell their three children about the Watcher and their strange letters. For the sake of the miniseries, it engaged two additional characters, but The Watcher true story was somewhat simpler.
Did The Broadduses Actually Suspect Their Neighbors?
As seen in the popular 2022 Netflix original series, the family’s quirky neighbors are among the many prime suspects. There are also a few altercations between the Broaddus family and the old couple that live across from their home. However, none of these conflicts are as aggressive as the ones depicted in The Watcher. The first letter also addresses the Broadduses as “Dearest new neighbor at 657 Boulevard,” which suggests The Watcher was either intentionally leading them to believe they are their neighbor or subtly implying that they live in the neighborhood.
The Watcher also seems to know many intricate details about the family, including their kids’ names and birth order. In one letter, the Watcher also asks if the Broadduses’ daughter is “the artist of the family” after she is likely seen using an easel on the home’s porch. While all these pieces of evidence suggest the perpetrator resides near the Broadduses, no neighbor is ever proven to be the culprit in the Watcher case.
Did The Real Broadduses Report The Watcher To The Police?
The Brannocks Tried To Get Help From The Authorities
In The Watcher true story the real-life Brannock couple reported the disturbing letters to the police. During the investigation, Detective Leonard Lugo interviewed their neighbors but found no evidence to prosecute them for the letters. In addition, the family also took help from a private investigator and contacted two FBI agents to find the identity of the Watcher. To their disappointment, even after meticulous investigation, The Watcher’s real identity remained a mystery.
What Did The DNA Reveal In The Real Watcher Case?
No Neighbors Matched The Samples On The Letters
The Watcher’s case was appointed to the Union County Prosecutor’s Office, which led to some intriguing developments. A DNA test revealed that a woman had licked the envelope on the Watcher’s letters, and taking this as a cue, the prosecutor’s office collected DNA samples from the neighborhood but found no matches.
Maria and Derek even tried convincing the investigators to compare the DNA with ancestry databases, but the prosecutor’s office refused. In 2020, the Broadduses took matters into their own hands by asking the prosecutor’s office to shut the case and hand over evidence. Unfortunately, the office declined, and the mystery surrounding the Watcher case remained unsolved (via The Cut).
The Broadduses Never Really Moved To The Watcher House
The Biggest Change The Show Made To The Real Story
Perhaps the biggest difference between The Watcher true story and the series is that the Broaddus family never lived in the house. Realizing the danger, they lived with Maria’s parents while their home remained empty. Six months after the Watcher’s first letter, they tried selling the home but failed to do so after potential buyers learned about the case. In July 2019, the Broadduses finally sold the house for $959,000 (via CNN), a hefty financial loss for the family. Luckily, selling rights to Netflix for The Watcher series helped recoup losses and let them have some say in their story.
The Broadduses Didn’t Want The Attention
The Watcher true story has many different elements that make it so fascinating, but one thing that is not explored much in the Netflix series is the role the media played in the case. The bizarre story quickly grabbed the attention of the media, much to the dismay of the Broaddus, who didn’t want to further bring unwanted attention to their lives. While it makes sense that the series avoided addressing this aspect, given that the series was only furthering the media coverage of the family, there are a lot of intriguing details it adds to the case.
The media attention also drew criticism of the Broaddus family themselves, with some of their neighbors claiming they were behind the letters all along…
One element that seems apparent is that the letter from “The Watcher” that was thought to have been a copycat was likely the result of the story getting so much publicity. It only added to the potential of anyone else who is now familiar with the story to begin harassing the family as well. The media attention also drew criticism of the Broaddus family themselves, with some of their neighbors claiming they were behind the letters all along in order to get out of the initial deal or perhaps get a movie deal.
While it would have been clever to see the true-crime Netflix series address the obsession with these true-crime stories, perhaps making for a bit of meta-commentary, but in the end, the media aspect of the story is cut out of the show.
How Close Was Netflix’s Adaptation Of The Watcher True Story?
The Watcher Takes The True Story In An Over-The-Top Direction
While there are aspects of the show that are close to the real story of the Broaddus family, the Netflix series clearly has its own direction it wants to go in. The premise makes for an ideal setup for a thriller story, with the idea of this family being harassed by an unseen neighbor making for a creepy mystery with the added impact of being able to say it is based on a true story. However, once the premise is established, the show doesn’t seem overly interested in sticking close to reality.
[T]hese changes and tonal shifts received a mixed reaction from fans and
The Watcher
might have been better served sticking closer to the true story.
There are many new elements introduced into the story to make it a bigger, more exciting, and wilder story than the real one. This includes introducing a lot of family drama into the story, such as Dean and Ellie on the verge of a divorce and the relationship drama that comes with Ellie’s new boyfriend. However, the series also takes things in a more over-the-top direction than the real story ever hinted at. The tunnels under the street suggest a deeper story that drags The Watcher away from a grounded thriller and into some bizarre territory.
While the Broaddus family had issues with their neighbors as a result of the Watcher letters, The Watcher series takes influence from the likes of Rosemary’s Baby to depict the neighbors as creepy antagonists with something to hide. In the end, these changes and tonal shifts received a mixed reaction from fans and The Watcher might have been better served sticking closer to the true story.
