Awesome - A Family Got Unnerving Letters After Moving To A New Neighborhood. They Did This!
What would you do if you shelled out over $1 million for a new house, only to discover it made your life into a nightmare? It happened to the Broaddus family. When Derek and Maria Broaddus finally closed on a beautiful house in the ritzy town of Westfield, New Jersey, they couldn't wait to move in. Their three kids were excited, and they were elated to land a dream home. However, before they even moved in, a sinister letter had them questioning their purchase.
A supposed dream home
While this home located at 657 Boulevard in Westfield, New Jersey, might look like a gorgeous place to live, the events that took place over the course of two years might change your mind.
The Broaddus family
In June 2014, Derek Broaddus — who just closed on the home with his wife, Maria — went to check the mail after he finished a huge paint job on the building's interior.
Unusual piece of mail
Having closed just three days prior, there wasn't much mail to receive except a few bills. However, there was also a white envelope that looked completely out of place.
Not a warm welcome
It was addressed to "The New Owner." Derek, naturally, assumed it was a letter welcoming the family to the neighborhood. As he read it, however, he realized something more sinister was at play.
Watching and waiting
The letter read: "I have been put in charge of watching and waiting for its second coming... Why are you here? I will find out." Derek's excitement about his new home immediately dissolved, and anxiety took its place.
The Watcher
There was no return address on the envelope. The letter continued with more terrifying words. "You have children. I have seen them. So far I think there are three that I have counted." It was signed: The Watcher.
Previous owners
Because The Watcher said, "I asked the Woods to bring me young blood and it looks like they listened," Derek and Maria wrote a letter to the previous owners, John and Andrea Woods, inquiring about the cryptic message.
Dead end
Interestingly enough, Andrea Woods did admit to receiving one letter at the start of their stay, but nothing else over the 23 years they remained there. Nevertheless, Derek and Maria were officially freaked out and second guessing the purchase.
Another letter
Two weeks later, Maria found another note in the mailbox. "All of the windows and doors in 657 Boulevard allow me to watch you and track you as you move through the house. Happy moving in day. I will be watching."
Police get involved
The Broadduses immediately took the letters to the police; they were terrified for their safety at this point. The case fell into the hands of Westfield's police chief David Wayman. Unfortunately, the letters themselves really didn't offer anything substantial.
Experts fall short
Reminded of the movie The Watcher with Keanu Reeves, the family also turned to private investigators and former FBI agents to help. However, after thorough research, no one could pinpoint a culprit.
Alarm alerts
Even though some of the renovations in the Broaddus' new home were alarms, the family's anxiety was through the roof. Occasionally an alarm would sound, and Derek would go to the house armed with a knife. Even so, The Watcher's letters continued.
Even more sinister
"I am in charge of 657 Boulevard. It is not in charge of me," another letter read. "I will be patient and wait for this to pass and for you to bring the young blood back to me." This was insane.
Suspicious vehicle
The Broadduses already sold their previous home, so Maria's parents invited them to stay at their place. There was one night when police on a stakeout saw a suspicious vehicle park in front of the home, but nothing came of the incident.
National story
The family didn't want to draw much attention to their problem, but a local reporter eventually got wind of the events, and soon everyone in the country knew what was happening. People all over had their own theories about the letters.
Popular theories
Some believed the family wrote the letters themselves to get out of a deal they couldn't afford, while others assumed it was someone with a sick sense of humor playing a joke. Derek and Maria, of course, knew it was worse.
Staying away
Nothing violent ever actually occurred to the Broaddus family, but two more letters were received during the two-and-a-half-year period. Derek, Maria, and the kids never officially moved in, and they were lucky enough to eventually find renters.
Potential conspiracy
In an act of resentment toward the families who spoke ill of them during The Watcher's heyday, Derek actually wrote letters to them himself, pretending to be The Watcher. His obsession with the mysterious stranger crept dangerously into his life.
A clean break
In 2019, the house finally sold to new owners, but the Broaddus family took a $300,000 loss. However, it was well worth not needing to worry about the mysterious Watcher anymore. The predominant theory remains that someone was trying to intimidate the Broadduses, which isn't out of the realm of possibility. After all, other unsuspecting families had fallen victim to malicious neighbors.
Bumps in the night
For one Pennsylvania household, it wasn't strange letters that terrified them. An unexpected creak in the night could scare even the steadiest of property owners, but they kept noticing something that sounded so out of the ordinary that they couldn't ignore it any longer.
Worst nightmare
The Pittsburgh couple assumed they were hearing some sort of house-related din while they slept – at least, at first. But as the noise continued, they realized that it was something far more sinister — and they had to act. So they installed a camera, and when they played the footage back, they couldn’t believe the terrifying image of their neighbor secretly spying on them.
The recluse
Before their frightening revelation, Jerome and Ashley Kennedy were just like any other couple in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They lived with their ten-month-old daughter, Regan, in an historic home in the city. Meanwhile, 69-year-old Robert Havrilla lived in the house next door; in a 2017 interview with Inside Edition, the mom and dad would describe him as “very reclusive.”
Noises from the ceiling
But although, as the Kennedys also revealed, their neighbor often “kept to himself,” the family would become very familiar with him in time – and in one of the worst ways imaginable. It all started in July 2017, when Jerome heard noises coming from the bedroom ceiling.
A light in the dark
Then, things got even stranger: Jerome spotted a light coming through a pipe in the bedroom. “I saw the light right through there,” he told the Inside Edition camera crew as he pointed out the spot. He added that the light appeared to be “searching for a place to look through.”
He wanted to protect his family
Making matters worse, Jerome shared the bedroom not only with his wife, but also with their daughter – who slept in a crib nearby. So, as he continued to see and hear strange things, the man of the house decided to take matters into his own hands and set up the camera.
He had a hunch
Even without video footage, though, Jerome was sure of what was going on. “I knew someone was up there,” he said. As for their reason for being there, he told CBS Pittsburgh in 2017, “The only thing I can assume is he’s watching my baby, my wife or myself.”
Confirmed the awful truth
Then, just one day after Jerome had installed the camera, footage confirmed what the dad already knew to be true: someone seemed to be watching them, snooping on his young family. And the person allegedly doing the peeping was the Kennedys’ neighbor, Robert Havrilla.
The trespasser went to elaborate lengths
Even creepier were the lengths that Havrilla seemed to go to in order to see the family’s day-to-day actions. “He’s removed all the insulation from my ceiling above the bedroom,” Jerome told CBS Pittsburgh. “And that gives him direct access where he could manipulate and get his way into the vents.”
A creepy renovation
Furthermore, Havrilla’s movement from his home into the Kennedys’ was made easier by another renovation he’d made. According to Inside Edition, the neighbor had created a removable wall between the adjoining properties; potentially, this could help him to enter the Kennedys’ attic without any difficulty.
He recorded them
And in the footage captured on Jerome’s camera, Havrilla had already made his entry – presumably through the wall he opened. He carried with him a drill and a light. The latter object was likely unsurprising to Jerome, since he had previously seen a glow coming from his attic.
30 minutes of evidence
Next, Havrilla examined an area near a vent that hung just over Regan’s crib and her parents’ bed. He spent about 30 minutes simply gazing at the scene below before retreating to the property he owned next door.
Drilled holes
But even though he had possible proof in hand, Jerome’s investigation into his neighbor didn’t end there. And, as it happens, the father also found holes drilled into a common wall between his house and Havrilla’s. Jerome plugged each one with tissue paper, however, to keep the view hidden from prying eyes.
Arrest
Upon finding these holes – and, of course, capturing the footage – the Kennedys called the authorities. Then, on July 17, 2017, Havrilla was arrested; he was subsequently charged with stalking and trespassing. But that wasn’t nearly the end of the family’s ordeal.
He claimed it wasn't malicious
Less than a month after Havrilla’s arrest, he appeared in court with his lawyer Anthony Jackson. There, the legal professional spoke for his client, telling CBS Pittsburgh, “I think it will come out soon that [Havrilla] did not have a malicious intent at all.”
The lawyer explained
Jackson added, “I think it was an innocent situation that is getting drug out a little further than it should, but that will come out soon.” Unsurprisingly, though, the Kennedys do not see Havrilla’s actions in that light at all.
Feeling unsafe
And Jerome’s wife Ashley fought back tears as she described to Inside Edition what it felt like to see her neighbor invading her privacy. “We have no idea what has been going on inside our own home,” she said.
A violation
What’s more, her husband seemed to be similarly upset about the situation. “It’s very disheartening to feel violated in this way that somebody can come in and disrupt the sanctity of my home,” he told CBS Pittsburgh. “It’s indescribable,” he added.
The family's attorney speaks
Even the family’s attorney, Jack Goodrich, couldn’t believe Havrilla’s audacity. “It’s scary to think somebody can be that intrusive in somebody’s home. In my humble opinion, he was waiting for the creep show,” he told Inside Edition.
Hoping for better days
Now, however, the Kennedys just need to wait for justice to take its course. Perhaps few could blame them for hoping that their neighbor is punished, though, as at least then they might feel safe sleeping in their own home once again.
Aucun commentaire: