Casefile True Crime - Case 177: 657 Boulevard

Episode Date: May 29, 2021

Married couple Derek and Maria Broaddus were house hunting when a property in the affluent neighbourhood of Westfield, New Jersey immediately caught their attention. 657 Boulevard was a striking six bedroom, four bathroom Dutch Colonial style home that was the perfect place to raise their family – or so they thought. --- Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Jessica Forsayeth Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-177-657-boulevard

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Airbnb is such a smart way to use what you already have to generate more income Whether you're saving for a wedding or a big trip somewhere or just trying to cover bills and possibly bump up your income Your home might be worth more than you think so find out how much at Airbnb.ca slash host Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any time you need support Please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support Please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website In mid 2014 John and Andrea Woods were busy packing up their possessions into moving boxes After living at 657 Boulevard for the past 23 years the time had come for the couple to move on

Located in the affluent suburb of Westfield, New Jersey Their striking six bedroom four bathroom Dutch colonial style home was the perfect house to raise a family Potential buyers would be further encouraged by the area's tight-knit community and low crime rate The Woods hoped that the new owners would settle in quickly to the home they had loved In the days before they moved out John and Andrea Woods received a letter After reading it herself Andrea showed it to John He disregarded it crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it in the trash The letter had been signed by someone claiming to be the Watcher

Music Derrig Broadus stepped through the front door of 657 Boulevard His wife Maria had grown up in the suburb and the two could think of nowhere better to raise their three young children Although they had taken out a hefty mortgage on the nearly $1.4 million house the Broadus' couldn't be more excited It was their dream home Built in 1905 the house required some renovations The couple decided to stay in their current residence and get all the necessary work done before moving in Built across 3920 square feet the multi-story house sat at the end of a long curved driveway

A white-columned porch, large bay windows and intricate wood and stonework defined the stately residence It was surrounded by an expanse of manicured lawn dotted with lush trees and a well-maintained garden The Broadus' children aged 10, 8 and 5 played in the yard while Derrig and Maria got to work planning their renovations Three days after settlement in June 2014 Derrig spent the afternoon and evening alone painting the interior of the house Just before 10pm as he was preparing to leave Derrig checked the mailbox He pulled out a handful of envelopes, mostly bills and some pamphlets Amongst the mail was a handwritten envelope addressed to the new owner It was written with a thick black pen, there was no return address

Derrig opened the envelope After reading the letter on his porch Derrig Broadus ran back inside and locked the door behind him He turned off all the lights so the house appeared unoccupied from the street Grabbing the phone he dialed the number for the Westfield Police Department An officer was dispatched to 657 Boulevard and read the letter Derrig presented to him Once he'd finished reading the officer looked up at Derrig with a perplexed expression He asked, what the fuck is this? The typed letter read

Dearest the new neighbour at 657 Boulevard allow me to welcome you to the neighbourhood 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 putting charge of watching and waiting for its second coming My grandfather watched the house in the 1920s and my father watched it 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

I see already that you have flooded 657 Boulevard with contractors so that you can destroy their house as it was supposed to be Tisk, tisk, tisk, bad move. You don't want to make 657 Boulevard unhappy I asked the woods to bring me young blood and it looked like they listened You have children. I have seen them So far I think there are three that I have counted. Are there more on the way? 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 them and draw them to me

Who am I? There are hundreds and hundreds of cars that drive past 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 Welcome my friends, welcome. Let the party begin

Signed The Watcher Because they had been referred to in the letter, Derek Broadus emailed the previous owners of number 657 John and Andrea Woods mentioned the letter they had received from The Watcher just before vacating the property But insisted they weren't particularly concerned or distressed by its contents At the behest of the broadesses, both couples went to the Westfield Police Department to officially report the letters Assigned to the case was Detective Leonard Lugo He advised the broadesses to keep quiet about the letters, particularly to those who lived on the Boulevard He believed that The Watcher was someone who lived close by

A few days after receiving the letter, the broadesses attended a barbecue across the street to welcome them into the neighborhood According to New York Magazine, Derek and Maria were on high alert during the gathering They eyed others with suspicion and kept their children close The broadesses agreed to give one of their friendlier neighbors a tour of their beloved house Their anxiety heightened when the neighbor commented It will be nice to have some young blood in the neighborhood The renovations continued at 657 Two weeks after they received the unnerving letter, the broadesses had yet to move in

Maria called in to check the mail when she noticed a familiar looking envelope Instead of opening it, she took it directly to the Westfield Police Department The letter inside read Welcome again to your new home at 657 Boulevard The workers have been busy and I have been watching you unload carpools of your personal belongings The dumpster is a nice touch Have they found what is in the walls yet? In time they will

I am pleased to know your names now and the name of the young blood you have brought to me You certainly say their names often 657 Boulevard is anxious for you to move in 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 All of the windows and doors in 657 Boulevard allow me to watch you and track you as you move through the house Who am I?

I am the watcher and have been in control of 657 Boulevard for the better part of two decades now The Woods family turned it over to you It was their time to move on and kindly sold it when I asked them to I passed by many times a day 657 Boulevard is my job, my life, my obsession And now you are too, broadest family Welcome to the product of your greed Greed is what brought the past three families to 657 Boulevard and now it has brought you to me

The house is crying from all of the pain it is going through You have changed it and made it so fancy You are stealing its history It cries for the past and what used to be in the time when I roamed the halls The 1960s were a good time for 657 Boulevard when I ran from room to room Imagining life with the rich occupants there The house was full of life and young blood Then it got old and so did my father

But he kept watching until the day he died And now I watch and wait for the day when the young blood will be mine again Have a happy moving in day You know I will be watching The letter addressed the broadest by name and included the nicknames that Maria called her children The Westfield police conducted surveillance on 657 as Derek and Maria continued the renovations Stressed and on edge, they stopped allowing their children to visit the house And discussed whether they should move in at all

A neighbour at 633 Boulevard came forward to say they had also received a letter from the watcher But they were not particularly concerned by it and had discarded it accordingly Derek and Maria were questioned about any enemies they might have None were identified Residing next door to 657 was a man named Michael Langford Michael had lived at the residence since the 1960s Coinciding with the watchers claim in their first letter that their father had watched the house since then Michael now lived with his mother who was in her 90s as well as several of his siblings who were in their 60s

His father had died 12 years prior, again corresponding with the line in the second letter that asserted the watcher had been observing the property for the better part of two decades Known as being a bit odd to the Boulevard's residence, Michael was the first person who popped into the minds of investigators Diagnosed with schizophrenia, Michael was known to walk through backyards on the Boulevard and occasionally peer into windows He was taken in for questioning but denied being the watcher or penning any threats His family and those who knew Michael thought of him as a harmless character incapable of writing the letters With no evidence to keep him in custody, Michael Langford was released The watchers' letters and envelopes were sent for forensic testing No fingerprints were uncovered, but a DNA sample was extracted from the adhesive used to seal one of the envelopes

The DNA determined that whoever had sealed the envelopes was female Michael Langford's sister, Abby, was a real estate agent Police speculated that she might have been compelled to write the letters after she missed out on acquiring the properties listing herself They covertly retrieved a water bottle from her work desk From it, they extracted her DNA profile It was not a match to the DNA found on the envelope Former homeowner Angela Woods also provided a DNA sample, but it didn't match either The second letter sent to the broadesses also made mention of their daughter painting on an easel on the porch

The close proximity of the Langfords to 657 Boulevard afforded them one of the few views from which the easel could be seen With police permission, the broadesses sent a letter to the Langfords It advised them that they planned to demolish the house on 657 Boulevard, hoping it would spark an outraged response They never received a reply With no arrests imminent, Derek received help from forensic linguist Robert Lanahan Robert carried out a threat assessment on the letters Based on their vocabulary and the two spaces after each full stop, he concluded that the writer was likely 50 to 60 years of age and a Navidad reader He browsed the local forums for language that resembled the contents of the letters

There were no matches A private investigator Derek Hyde staked out the neighborhood Although they determined that the Langfords were strange, they were unable to unearth the watcher Derek even turned to a former FBI agent who had inspired the character of Clarice Starling in Silence of the Lambs, but to no avail Derek Broadess was certain that the Langford family were responsible He poured over council plans to see which houses had views of his property and who would be able to hear his children being called He also set up multiple webcams around his house According to New York Magazine, one day a house painter at the property was working when he noticed something strange

He looked out one of the rear windows The neighbors behind 657 had placed the deck chairs in very close proximity to the boundary of the two properties Instead of facing their own house, the couple positioned the chairs to look straight at 657 The couple sat on the chairs, watching the workers as they renovated Upon investigating this couple, it was discovered that their daughter had married a man who lived in 657 previously The promising lead went nowhere All former owners and housekeepers of 657 were also ruled out one by one At 11 o'clock one night, police staking out the boulevard observed a car slow to a stop outside 657

The driver remained motionless in the vehicle for some time before driving away The car was traced to a woman who resided in a nearby suburb When questioned, she claimed that her boyfriend was driving her car He lived in very close proximity to 657 boulevard However, at the time, he was living in a different location She said her boyfriend was known to play some really dark video games One character he played was called the Watcher Police contacted the boyfriend who agreed to an interview

When he didn't show, a second interview was scheduled He didn't turn up for that one either Without concrete evidence to link this man to being the Watcher, investigators hands were tied The man had no legal obligation to assist police with their investigations The broadesses faced the conundrum They had a beautifully renovated house made to their specifications But were too afraid to move in Derek spent some nights in the attic with the lights off looking out the windows with a pair of binoculars

But the Watcher never made an appearance The broadest family moved in with Maria's parents and their grand house sat empty In February 2015, six months after they had purchased the property The broadesses put 657 boulevard back on the market They asked for nearly $1.5 million, $100,000 more than they had purchased it for With the home's extensive renovations, the skyrocketing real estate market And location in one of New Jersey's premier neighborhoods, it should have been a quick sell However, the Watcher had come to the attention of the local media

And there were no interested buyers In June 2015, the broadesses filed a lawsuit against the previous owners of 657 John and Andrea Woods According to the morning call, they argued that they never would have bought the property Had they known there was a person who had a quote Mentally disturbed fixation on the house The broadesses were suing for fraud and concealment They believed that the woods should have disclosed the property

They believed that the woods should have disclosed that they had received a letter from the Watcher Prior to vacating the house They wanted the woods to refund them the purchase price of the house as well as punitive damages The lawyer for the broadesses explained that they had attempted to sell the house because They are unable to live in the home without extreme anxiety and fear for their children's safety and well-being The woods maintained that the letter they received from the Watcher was not threatening They countersued the broadesses, claiming they had been defamed by the lawsuit Which was gaining considerable media attention

While waiting for the civil suit to be heard, the broadess family rented out 657 Their tenants were fully aware of the bizarre goings on at the home The parties had a special rental agreement It featured a clause that gave the tenants permission to vacate the house should another letter from the Watcher arrive With no children and two large dogs to protect them The tenants felt confident enough to sign the lease In February 2017, a few weeks after they moved in An envelope appeared in their letter box

It had been two years since the last letter from the Watcher had been received This time, the envelope was addressed Violent winds and bitter cold To the vile and spiteful Derek and his wench of a wife, Maria The letter inside asked Where have you gone to? 657 Boulevard is missing you 657 Boulevard is missing you The letter was confiscated by the Westfield Police Department

Who initially kept its contents confidential Forensic testing failed to uncover any fingerprints or DNA on the letter or its envelope The tenants agreed to stay on Despite the remainder of the letter containing increasingly violent threats towards the occupants of the house Their only condition was that the broadesses install additional security cameras Derek promptly did so In another desperate attempt to offload the house, which was now causing them a significant financial burden The broadesses applied to the Westfield Planning Board

Their plan was to raise the house they had put so much work into And subdivide the land into two lots to sell Residents in Westfield protested the proposal They argued that smaller lots would be out of character for the community In March 2017, the Planning Board formally rejected the plan They cited that at 67.4 and 67.6 feet respectively The subdivided lots would fall 2.5 feet short of the mandated 70-foot required allotment In a further bout of bad luck, the civil case lodged by the broadesses was thrown out in October 2017

It was determined that the case could set an unreasonable precedent for what sellers would need to disclose to potential buyers The broadesses put 657 Boulevard back on the market for the reduced price of $1.1 million The mysterious watcher left the idyllic Westfield area in a state of unease Police assured the public that they had conducted a thorough investigation But admittedly, were no closer to solving the case A journalist from a local newspaper speculated that the broadesses themselves could have been responsible for the letters He theorised that the family might have gotten in over their heads with the mortgage And were looking for a way to wriggle out of their financial troubles

Another theory was that the broadesses concocted the entire series of events in order to profit from a potential television or movie deal The broadesses angrily denied these allegations They also copped flak on social media, with users calling them cowards for being scared away from moving into their home by a couple of letters Maria Broadess even took a DNA test to rule herself out as a suspect Derek Broadess told The Today Show, I was a depressed rack On July 1, 2019, Derek and Maria Broadess sold 657 Boulevard to another couple for just over $959,000 $400,000 less than they had purchased the property for five years earlier This also didn't cover the significant amount of money they put into renovations

According to all that's interesting, Maria Broadess said At the end of the day, it came down to, what are you going to risk? We weren't going to put our kids in harm's way The broadesses decided to stay in Westfield, purchasing a modest home in an undisclosed location The watcher eyed the blank sheet of paper before them With pen in hand, they began scribbling across its surface You wonder who the watcher is? Turn around, idiots Maybe you even spoke to me, one of the so-called neighbors who has no idea who the watcher could be

Or maybe you do know and are too scared to tell anyone Good move I walked by the news trucks when they took over my neighborhood and mocked me I watched as you watched from the dark house in an attempt to find me Telescopes and binoculars are wonderful inventions They went on to detail how they might cause the Broadess family's demise Maybe a car accident, maybe a fire Maybe something as simple as a mild illness that never seems to go away

But makes you feel sick 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 The watcher then folded the letter and slid it inside an envelope They sealed it shut and rode across its front To the vile and spiteful Derek and his wench of a wife, Maria The letter ended

You are despised by the house and the watcher won This was the final letter penned to the Broadess family by the watcher in 2017 No further letters have reportedly been sent to 657 Boulevard since The watcher remains unknown To be continued