ELIZABETH, N.J. (AP) — A judge threw out the remaining counts of a civil lawsuit filed by a New Jersey couple who said they were scared away from their home after receiving anonymous creepy letters from someone named “The Watcher.”
ELIZABETH, N.J. (AP) — A judge threw out the remaining counts of a civil lawsuit filed by a New Jersey couple who said they were scared away from their home after receiving anonymous creepy letters from someone named “The Watcher.”
Derek and Maria Broaddus had filed a lawsuit against the former owners of the Westfield home, saying they knew about the “The Watcher” before they sold them the home in 2014.
A Superior Court judge on Wednesday dismissed three counts of fraud, saying there’s no evidence the former owners intentionally hid a letter they had received from “The Watcher,” NJ.com reports . The judge said the couple dismissed the letter as odd, not threatening.
The judge also dismissed a countersuit that alleged the Broadduses were smearing the former owners’ reputation by working with news outlets to publish their complaint.
The Broadduses say they received four creepy letters from “The Watcher,” the most recent one earlier this year.
The writer seemed to claim ownership of the house, according to court records, and indicated that his father and grandfather had been observing the home since the 1920s.
The first letter welcomed the couple to the Broadduses to the neighborhood but asked: “Why are you here? I will find out.”
They say the letters become steadily more disturbing, later asking: “Have they found what is in the walls yet? In time they will.”
A spokesman for the Union County Prosecutor’s Office says they continue to investigate the origin of the letters. No suspects have been publicly identified.
The Broadduses refused to move into the home after receiving the messages. It is back on the market for $1,125,000.
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Information from: NJ Advance Media.
