New Jersey

Despite Pleas From Frightened Owners, Board Won't Demolish ‘Watcher' House

"Do you need to fill the house with the young blood I requested?" said one creepy letter from "The Watcher"

What to Know

  • The owners had proposed replacing the house with two homes because they said they cannot move into the existing house
  • They bought the six-bedroom home for nearly $1.4 million in 2014
  • Shortly after that, they say they got 3 threatening letters from a stalker calling himself "the watcher"

The owners of a New Jersey home who say they were stalked by an anonymous creepy-letter writer known as "The Watcher" soon after they bought the luxury property won't get their wish to have the building razed.

Planning board members unanimously rejected a demolition plan at a hearing Wednesday night. 

Residents who live near the home in Westfield told the board that the house was "magnificent" and "beautiful" and razing it would destroy their block. 

Derek and Maria Broaddus had proposed replacing the house with two homes because they said they cannot move into the existing house. Shortly after buying the six-bedroom house for nearly $1.4 million in 2014, the couple, who have children, said they received three threatening letters from a stalker calling himself "The Watcher." 

The previous owners of the home say the account is fiction and want a lawsuit filed by the current owners dismissed.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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