Why Westfield, NJ, May Be The Scariest Place To Live in The U.S.

Why Westﬁeld, NJ, May Be the Scariest Place to Live in the U.S. https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/upscale-suburb-westﬁeld-nj-scaries...
(https://realtor.com/) (https://realtor.com/myaccount)
Home (https://www.realtor.com/news/) Trends (https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/)
1 of 14 1/3/24, 23:15
Halloween
(https://www.realtor.com
/tag/halloween/)
murder (https://www.realtor.com
/tag/murder/)
(Composite by Erin Culton: Getty Images/West�eld Leader/Clare Trapasso)
murder houses
TRENDS (HTTPS://WWW.REALTOR.COM/NEWS/TRENDS/)
/tag/murder-houses/)
Why the Upscale Suburb of Scary Towns

West�eld, NJ, May Be the Scariest /tag/scary-towns/)
Place to Live in the U.S. West�eld NJ

/tag/west�eld-nj/)
By Clare Trapasso (https://www.realtor.com/author/ctrapasso/)
Oct 29, 2020
W est�eld, NJ (https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-
search/West�eld_NJ?view=map), a town of grand, restored
Victorians and stately mansions perched on tree-lined streets, is the
Sign up for all the
housing news you
kind of place many folks aspire to one day call home. The downtown can use
features mom and pop shops and bakeries alongside a Williams-
Sonoma and Baby Gap stores. Even before COVID-19, busy roads Sign up now
were often closed off so residents could listen to live music while
dining outdoors, participate in children’s arts and crafts projects, or (https://www.realtor.com
take open-air yoga classes. Many who grow up in the a�uent suburb, /myaccount
about an hour west of Manhattan, return after college to raise their /signin?con�g=NEWS_AND_INSIGHTS_SIGNUP&
redirect_url_override=/myaccount
families there.
/pro�le/settings/)
The pandemic has boosted its upscale appeal, making it a popular

destination for folks escaping nearby cities in search of more space. Editor's Picks
That’s led to a nearly 13.5% annual surge in home prices, to a median BUY
list price of $884,050 in September, according to realtor.com® data. (HTTPS://WWW.REALTOR.COM
/ADVICE/BUY/)
9 Costly Mistakes Buyers
But most newcomers aren’t immediately aware that West�eld has a (https://www.realtor.com Make When Purchasing a
macabre side—and a deeply dark history. /advice/buy/mistakes- New-Construction Home
buyers-make-when-
purchasing-a-new-
construction-home/)
CELEBRITY REAL ESTATE

(HTTPS://WWW.REALTOR.COM
/NEWS/CELEBRITY-REAL-ESTATE
Slam Dunk! 76ers Center Joe
(https://www.realtor.com Embiid Lists His Fantastic
Philly Penthouse for $5.5M
2 of 14 1/3/24, 23:15
/news/celebrity-real- Philly Penthouse for $5.5M

A string of high-pro�le murders has taken place within West�eld’s 6.7
estate/joel-embiid-lists-
square miles, leaving homes across the city with gruesome footnotes
philadelphia-
in their property history. They include the sprawling home on a hill pennsylvania-
where accountant John List murdered his wife, three children, and penthouse/)
mother, and then vanished for 18 years—perhaps the most famous
“family annihilation” in U.S. history. Then there’s “The Watcher” house, REALITY TV
whose new owners were subjected to a campaign of terror by a /ADVICE/REALITY-TV/
mysterious letter writer, inspiring a 2016 Lifetime movie and an Exclusive: The Property
upcoming Net�ix �ick. (https://www.realtor.com Brothers Open Up Their
/advice/reality- Hearts, Homes, and Their
tv/property-brothers-
It seems in nearly every generation, West�eld makes the national
exclusive-open-up-their-
news for a sinister crime. hearts/)
REALITY TV
The town’s imposing, Victorian-rich architecture may have even (HTTPS://WWW.REALTOR.COM
inspired Charles Addams to create “The Addams Family” cartoons, /ADVICE/REALITY-TV/
with its spooky mansion and spookier inhabitants. Exclusive: Mark Bowe of
(https://www.realtor.com ‘Barnwood Builders’ Explains
/advice/reality- the Modern Farmhouse
“It does seem like a lot for a town of 30,000,” says Lauren Barr, editor tv/exclusive-mark-bowe-
and publisher of the West�eld Leader, the local newspaper. She grew of-barnwood-builders-
up here and graduated from West�eld High School in 1998. breaks-down-what-it-
really-takes-to-restore-
rare-barns/)
But “I don’t think that it has affected the town’s reputation,” she adds.
CELEBRITY REAL ESTATE
/NEWS/CELEBRITY-REAL-ESTATE
The thing is, few would expect such heinous acts to occur in such a
Former Atlanta Braves Pitche
wealthy, picture-perfect community, says Arthur Lurigio, a criminology
(https://www.realtor.com Michael Soroka Lists Luxe
and psychology professor at Loyola University Chicago. Townhome in the ATL for
/news/celebrity-real-
estate/michael-soroka-
The crimes “stand out because of the place,” says Lurigio. “This isn’t lists-atlanta-georgia-
townhome/)
supposed to happen. … It’s not a place where you expect violence to
occur.”
The infamous ‘Watcher’ house wrenched West�eld back into the

spotlight
3 of 14 1/3/24, 23:15
The previous owners of “The Watcher” house received chilling letters from an
anonymous writer. (Clare Trapasso)
West�eld’s most recent touch of national infamy was the twisted tale
of “The Watcher (https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail
/657-Boulevard_West�eld_NJ_07090_M60763-59590)” house.
A couple purchased the six-bedroom, turn-of-the-century Dutch

Colonial for more than $1.35 million in 2014, then spent an additional
$100,000 on renovations. But Derek and Maria Broaddus and their
three children never moved in.
The family’s nightmare began when they received the �rst in a series
of chilling letters. The anonymous writer claimed to be charged with
“watching” the house, just as the writer’s father and grandfather did
before. The “watcher” seemed to be particularly interested in the
couple’s children, referred to in the letters both as the “young blood”
and by their individual names.
“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,” one of the letters said.
Perhaps most frightening, the writer appeared to be omnipresent and

yet nowhere, perhaps hiding in plain sight.
“All of the windows and doors in 657 Boulevard allow me to watch

you and track you as you move through the house,” the watcher wrote.
Then later in the same letter: “I pass by many times a day. 657
Boulevard is my job, my life, my obsession. And now you are too
4 of 14 1/3/24, 23:15
Braddus family.”
Another note asked: “Do you know what lies within the walls of 657
Boulevard?”
“It was quite the story at the time,” says newspaper editor Barr.
“Everyone put their sleuthing hats on in town. … It was all anyone
talked about for a while.”
The Broaddus family found themselves stuck with an expensive home

they didn’t feel safe visiting, much less living in.
They sued the former owners of the home, who had received one
letter from the watcher a few days before they moved out, but never
told the new owners. The case was dismissed. Next, the couple
proposed razing the place and selling the lot for two new homes to be
built in its place. The idea was soundly rejected by the town’s planning
board. The couple resorted to renting out the home.
Last year, the Broadduses �nally sold the place for about $959,000, a
substantial loss.
So who was the watcher? At various times, different neighbors came

under suspicion. Some residents, unhappy with the unwelcome
attention placed on their town, even surmised that the Broadduses
sent the notes to themselves (which the couple staunchly deny). The
mystery has never been solved.
One longtime West�eld resident walking her two dogs by the home on
Tuesday morning said interest in the episode had died down.
“It was really intriguing at the time and very scary,” says Rebecca
Jezierski, 70, who lives a few blocks away. But “all of a sudden [the
letters] just stopped when these new people moved in.”
John List murders his family—and then disappears
5 of 14 1/3/24, 23:15
Accountant John List murdered his family and then eluded capture for 18 years.
(Courtesy of The West�eld Leader)
“The Watcher” house would be a creepy enough local legend for one
town. But one day a half-century ago, West�eld accountant John List
shot his mother, wife, and three children to death in their 19-room
Colonial, known as Breeze Knoll.
List struggled to hold down a job, and hadn’t told his family he’d lost
his latest one and was broke. Moreover, he felt his family was turning
away from the church (he was a devout Lutheran) and toward
temptation.
On Nov. 9, 1971, List shot each one, then wrote a letter to his pastor
explaining he was saving them from the embarrassment of losing
their home and from endangering their place in heaven.
Then List disappeared.
6 of 14 1/3/24, 23:15
The original List home burned down in a mysterious �re after the List murders.
He created a new identity, remarried, and moved to Colorado. It wasn’t

until an “America’s Most Wanted” episode on the murders aired that
he was �nally caught—18 years after the murders. List died in prison
in 2008 at the age of 82.
“People still remember it. When I was growing up, John List was the
ghost story,” says Barr. She used to live two streets over from the List
property.
During List’s 1990 trial, townspeople would line up outside of the

courthouse as early as 6 a.m. to get a seat in the galley.
A wanted poster seeking the capture of John List, who murdered his family.
The home where the List family perished burned down nine months
after the murders, in 1972. Locals traded theories about the
suspicious �re. Some believed List returned to torch the mansion,
says Barr. Others dismissed it as the handiwork of kids—or Satan
worshippers. The property was auctioned off late that year to local
newspaper publisher Kurt Bauer for a winning bid of $36,100.
The property itself then became the link to another high-pro�le killing
7 of 14 1/3/24, 23:15
The property itself then became the link to another high-pro�le killing
in town, 25 years after the List murders.
Jeffrey Bauer, 48, Kurt Bauer’s brother, was shot by his estranged
wife, Meta Bauer, in 1996 at the West�eld Leader, the local
newspaper where he was the publisher. She then killed herself.
“It was just another very strange thing to happen in what’s usually a
quiet, sleepy town,” says Barr, who did not work at the newspaper at
the time.
A new home stands in the spot where List’s home burned down in West�eld,
NJ. (Clare Trapasso)
Several more murders were committed in West�eld
The List murders weren’t the �rst case of a local parent killing a child
in West�eld. In 1959, 17-year-old high school basketball star
Raymond Bailey III was stabbed to death with a kitchen knife by his
mother in their home. She then stabbed herself 25 times, but
survived.
There were other murders in the tony town as well.
In 1974, Dr. John J. Graff, 56, was killed in a mugging after leaving the
local train station. Authorities believed he was on his way home, just
three blocks away. No one was ever caught.
Two years later, Lena Triano, 57, was hogtied with electrical cords cut
out of her appliances, raped, strangled with a tie from her bedroom
blinds, and stabbed multiple times in her West�eld home. It took 36
years for authorities to track down the murderer, Carlton Franklin
8 of 14 1/3/24, 23:15
years for authorities to track down the murderer, Carlton Franklin.
More recently, college student Sohayla Massachi, 23, was abducted

from Seton Hall University by her ex-boyfriend in 2000. He brought her
to his West�eld apartment and shot her to death.
‘The Addams Family’ creator found creepy inspiration growing up

here
Cartoonist Charles Addams grew up in this West�eld home. (Clare Trapasso)
Maybe it’s �tting that West�eld’s most famous former resident was
cartoonist Charles Addams, known for his dark characters and pitch-
black sense of humor, as seen in “The Addams Family.”
His beloved characters grace the windows of the town’s downtown

shops at this time of year, and the town’s AddamsFest puts on a
series of family-friendly, Halloween events (this year with social
distancing measures in place).
Addams was born in 1912 and grew up in a modest home with

canvas awnings over the windows near the heart of town. On his
walks to school, he passed by spooky, abandoned Victorians
(https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/victorian-houses-spooky-
reputation/) said to have inspired the “Addams Family” mansion.
“When Charles grew up, a lot of those houses were empty and rotting
and falling apart,” says Kevin Miserocchi, executive director of the Tee
and Charles Addams Foundation. (Marilyn “Tee” Addams was the
cartoonist’s wife.) “That [Victorian] architecture intrigued him.”
9 of 14 1/3/24, 23:15
The �rst “Addams Family” cartoon ran in the New Yorker in the late
1930s, after the cartoonist left West�eld for Manhattan.
Addams biographer Linda H. Davis disputed the rumors the

architecture in the “lovely town” of West�eld inspired the “Addams
Family” mansion.
“It’s a persistent myth,” says Davis, author of “Charles Addams: A

Cartoonist’s Life.” She claims he borrowed architectural details from
different buildings he saw and used them in new variations of the
mansion. “The house is never drawn the same way twice.”
Cartoonist Charles Addams may have been inspired to create “The Addams
Family” mansion by the local architecture. (Clare Trapasso)
Why West�eld’s housing market hasn’t been hurt by these

tragedies
The pandemic has spurred buyers from nearby cities, like New York
City, Hoboken, and Jersey City, to descend on West�eld. Many are
searching for big homes with even bigger backyards to ride out the
COVID-19 crisis and any new stay-at-home directives. West�eld’s
more unsavory history doesn’t often come up in conversations with
these soon-to-be residents.
“People coming to West�eld don’t know anything about ‘The Watcher’

house and don’t care about it,” says local real estate agent Scott
Gleason, of Re/Max Select. “I haven’t heard about it in town
conversations or real estate conversations in a year. … [And] John List
is ancient lore.
10 of 14 1/3/24, 23:15
is ancient lore.
“They’re not related to our real estate reality,” he says.
West�eld, NJ, is the site of some unsettling events. (Clare Trapasso)
“If you have a spate of burglaries or there are armed robberies on the
street in the central business district, you might see people wanting to
move out,” says criminologist Lurigio.
But that is not the case here.
West�eld received an A-plus crime rating (https://www.areavibes.com

/west�eld-nj/crime/) from AreaVibes, which evaluates the best places
to live. It had 96% less violent crime and 71% less crime overall than
the national average, according to the site.
“Lots and lots of people want to live here,” says Gleason.
11 of 14 1/3/24, 23:15
Victorian homes abound in West�eld, NJ. (Clare Trapasso)
Halloween (https://www.realtor.com/tag/halloween/)
murder (https://www.realtor.com/tag/murder/)
murder houses (https://www.realtor.com/tag/murder-houses/)
Scary Towns (https://www.realtor.com/tag/scary-towns/)
West�eld NJ (https://www.realtor.com/tag/west�eld-nj/)
Clare Trapasso is the executive news editor of Realtor.com. She was previously
a reporter for the Associated Press, the New York Daily News, and a Financial
Times publication. She also taught journalism courses at several New York City
colleges. Email clare.trapasso@realtor.com or follow @claretrap on X (formerly
Twitter).
Follow @claretrap (http://twitter.com/claretrap)
Related articles
CELEBRITY REAL ESTATE (HTTPS://WWW.REALTOR.COM
/NEWS/CELEBRITY-REAL-ESTATE/)
'Nobody Wants It': Colorado Home at the

Center of Net�ix Murder Documentary Hangs
(/news in Limbo (/news/celebrity-real-estate/chris-…
/celebrity-
real-estate
/chris-watts-
12 of 14 1/3/24, 23:15
/chris-watts-
murder-
house-in-
limbo/)
Untangling the Real Estate Web of HBO's 'The

Vow': The Many Homes of the NXIVM Sex
Cult (/news/trends/nxivm-properties-in-…
(/news/trends
/nxivm-
properties-in-
limbo/)
A Place to Die For: Why People Buy Homes

Where Brutal Murders Occurred (/news
/trends/grisly-murder-homes-why-buyers-…
(/news/trends
/grisly-
murder-
homes-why-
buyers-live-
in-homes-
where-
someone-
was-killed/)
The realtor.com (https://www.realtor.com)® editorial team highlights a curated

selection of product recommendations for your consideration; clicking a link to
the retailer that sells the product may earn us a commission.
(https://www.facebook.com/realtor.com) (https://twitter.com/REALTORdotcom)
13 of 14 1/3/24, 23:15
(https://www.linkedin.com/company/realtor-com/) (https://www.instagram.com/realtordotcom/?hl=en)
(https://www.pinterest.com/realtordotcom/) (https://www.youtube.com/user/RealtorDotCom)
(https://www.HouseLogic.com/?cid=eo_rl_rcom) (https://www.get.realtor/?cid=dis_TLD0427)
About us(https://www.realtor.com/about/) Careers(https://www.realtor.com/careers/) Accessibility/accessibility)
Ad (https://www.realtor.com/privacy-
Feedback Media room(https://news.move.com/) Choicespolicy/#your-choices-and-rights)
Advertise (https://www.realtor.com Agent (https://support.realtor.com

Privacy(https://www.realtor.com/privacy-
with us /mediasolutions/) support /s/#iid=rdc_hdr_realtors_support) policy/)
Terms(https://www.realtor.com/terms-of-
service/)
Home
Made
/homemade/) Tech Blog(https://techblog.realtor.com/)
Do Not Sell (https://www.realtor.com

/ccpa-landing?client=rdc&
My
Sitemap(https://www.realtor.com/sitemap)
Personal returl=https%3A%2F
Information%2Fwww.realtor.com%2Fccpa-
optout%3Fclient%3Drdc)
GET THE APP
(https://apps.realtor.com/mUAZ/41b73882) (https://apps.realtor.com/mUAZ/41b73882)
© 1995-2024 National Association of REALTORS®(//www.nar.realtor/?cid=dis-rdotcomlogo) and Move, Inc.(//www.move.com/) All rights reserved.
14 of 14 1/3/24, 23:15

Why Westfield, NJ, May Be The Scariest Place To Live in The U.S.

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Why Westfield, NJ, May Be The Scariest Place To Live in The U.S.

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Why Westﬁeld, NJ, May Be the Scariest Place to Live in the U.S. https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/upscale-suburb-westﬁeld-nj-scaries...

Home (https://www.realtor.com/news/) Trends (https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/)

Why the Upscale Suburb of Scary Towns

Place to Live in the U.S. West�eld NJ

housing news you

The pandemic has boosted its upscale appeal, making it a popular

CELEBRITY REAL ESTATE

/news/celebrity-real- Philly Penthouse for $5.5M

The infamous ‘Watcher’ house wrenched West�eld back into the

A couple purchased the six-bedroom, turn-of-the-century Dutch

Perhaps most frightening, the writer appeared to be omnipresent and

“All of the windows and doors in 657 Boulevard allow me to watch

The Broaddus family found themselves stuck with an expensive home

So who was the watcher? At various times, different neighbors came

John List murders his family—and then disappears

Then List disappeared.

He created a new identity, remarried, and moved to Colorado. It wasn’t

During List’s 1990 trial, townspeople would line up outside of the

Several more murders were committed in West�eld

There were other murders in the tony town as well.

years for authorities to track down the murderer, Carlton Franklin.

More recently, college student Sohayla Massachi, 23, was abducted

‘The Addams Family’ creator found creepy inspiration growing up

Cartoonist Charles Addams grew up in this West�eld home. (Clare Trapasso)

His beloved characters grace the windows of the town’s downtown

Addams was born in 1912 and grew up in a modest home with

Addams biographer Linda H. Davis disputed the rumors the

“It’s a persistent myth,” says Davis, author of “Charles Addams: A

Why West�eld’s housing market hasn’t been hurt by these

“People coming to West�eld don’t know anything about ‘The Watcher’

“They’re not related to our real estate reality,” he says.

West�eld, NJ, is the site of some unsettling events. (Clare Trapasso)

But that is not the case here.

West�eld received an A-plus crime rating (https://www.areavibes.com

“Lots and lots of people want to live here,” says Gleason.

Victorian homes abound in West�eld, NJ. (Clare Trapasso)

murder houses (https://www.realtor.com/tag/murder-houses/)

Scary Towns (https://www.realtor.com/tag/scary-towns/)

'Nobody Wants It': Colorado Home at the

Untangling the Real Estate Web of HBO's 'The

A Place to Die For: Why People Buy Homes

The realtor.com (https://www.realtor.com)® editorial team highlights a curated

Advertise (https://www.realtor.com Agent (https://support.realtor.com

Do Not Sell (https://www.realtor.com

GET THE APP

You might also like