Watcher letters force family to sell house

a reply to: Vasa Croe

What about Sam Raimi? He could get Bruce Campbell to play the father.

originally posted by: Krazysh0t
a reply to: Vasa Croe

What about Sam Raimi? He could get Bruce Campbell to play the father.

Ha...that would be awesome! Bring Ash back!!!!!

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Or they turn it into a reality show and pull an Ed TV! If that could actually be done without outside knowledge, to be aired after all is said and done, I'd watch it!

Latest update on this story ! It gets creepier

www.dailymail.co.uk... -town-12-miles-away.html

Well, S&F for a very creepy and very interesting read! This sounds like something out of Stalker. My first thought was of the Amityville Horror house. So, some thoughts, in no particular order:

1. No way, NO WAY, this family should move in. Period. Not knowing who is behind this, there is simply too much risk involved, especially with three young children. Cop protection might not help, no matter how well done, either. Come on; with all of the movies where the cops die first, does anyone think that's a guarantee of safety? No offense to the cops, either, but with no way to know who is involved, or their numbers and skill levels, it is far too big a risk. They are making the right decision avoiding the place. I hope they stick to that.

2. This could be a prank, of course, and if it is, whoever is behind it really needs some serious punishment. It doesn't feel like a prank, however.

3. This could be about someone else wanting the house, and/or driving down property values, or even buyer remorse, but again, it doesn't feel like that. Buyer remorse is the least likely scenario, too, because the previous owners are reported to have received a letter before the sale was complete.

4. The letters being mailed from out of town is utterly meaningless as a clue to the location of the perp(s). Twelve miles is a very short distance to drive to mail a letter, and would be a logical precaution for someone living quite close, to throw off the investigation. The only benefit to knowing where the letters came from would be that they could look for security cam footage, to see who dropped letters in the right area, and hope to get lucky. I'd assume they are doing that, and running them for prints, etc. DNA can be obtained of they licked the envelopes, too, which would be helpful to eliminate people, at the least, and maybe of someone is arrested.

5. Interviewing neighbors might work, but only if some pa attention, and if the person or people responsible are that close, it's unlikely they would confess. Possible, but unlikely.

6. This being related to any large group can't be completely discounted. Masons? No, of course not. Some weird Satanic bunch? Maybe. It could be about sacrifice. What if people were killed there, and no one knew? The police need to look for not just known crimes, but missing people as well, and anything "off" in the history of the house AND the durrounding neighborhood. Lot of work, and I don't envy them that!

7. The neighbors would be wise to get armed, and watch out themselves. Someone that creepy around, anyone cold be in danger.

8. Finally, assuming there is no threat is, frankly, naive. Sure, it could be a prank or a scam, but it could also be some nutjob, or several, with seriously bad intentions. Who would risk their children in such a situation? I wouldn't, and whoever was involved wold be praying the cops got them before I did, for threatening my kids in the first place.

This situation feels dangerous. I a not sure, in the reporter's place in the one video, I'd be standing outside the place at night, camera crew or no camera crew. I hope the police catch a break, and nail whoever is behind this fast, before something really bad happens.

What I can't understand, as a mother, is why they are suing not only to get back everything they paid for the house plus interest, presumably to cover legal fees and other expenses...but also for the right to retain the title and ownership of the house.

Hell, if it were me I'd sue to give the house back to the original owners as long as I got back what I paid for it and enough to cover expenses/financial damages. Why would I want to retain ownership of the house the maniac is claiming? I can't move into it. I suppose they are banking on the stalker being caught and then being able to move in or resell the house. I don't know...I just would be creeped out that I'd want to wash my hands of further association with the house and get on with my life. There must be a legal or financial angle I'm missing here.

a reply to: SheeplFlavoredAgain


That's why I had suggested maybe it's best if they just nullify the sale; the sellers get their money back and both parties go their separate ways. The seller might be stuck with the house, but one day someone will come along and buy it anyway. Although, in the meantime, the seller will have two mortgages....still, anything is better than a lawsuit.

I find it real hard to believe a NJ attorney is going to take the (buyers) case on contingency basis. They will want to be paid hourly after a retainer is paid upfront and the case will drag on and take much longer than expected -- it always does, as the attorneys bleed their clients dry.

I still say nullify the sale as anything is better than a long, drawn out legal battle. The only ones to profit from that are the attorneys. Once the legal battle is settled the buyers might not be able to afford any house when all is said and done, let alone one in upscale Westfield, NJ. Once the lawsuit (that they may or may not even win) ends they'll be financially and emotionally drained.

originally posted by: Freenrgy2
a reply to: Ameilia

Cowards for leaving. A letter? Really now. Me thinks this family watches too much Ghost Adventurers or something like that.

Heck, I'd try and flush them out and then let the police handle it.

They have three children. Cowards for trying to protect their children.. seriously?

I guess they could just never let their kids outside, put heavy thick blinds on all windows, and let their children be either completely unaware of a possible danger, or let them be terrified. Great plan.

a reply to: fleabit

Yes, they're cowards.

Apparently the Daily Mail (my favorite gossip rag) has been following the story.

Criminal profilers believe that a stalker who sent threatening letters to a New Jersey family and forced them out of their dream home is a local with a chip on his shoulder about money.

Criminal profilers have now given the first insights into the character of the person that may have sent them, as police continue their investigation.
Two of the three criminologists, who agree that the letters could yet be a hoax, are former profilers with the FBI’s behavioral analysis unit.
One former FBI profiler, Joe Navarro, who now works as a consultant in Florida said that the writer’s persistent use of words such as ‘rich’ and ‘fancy’ leads him to believe the culprit has issues relating to money.

www.dailymail.co.uk... FBI-profilers.html

I still think that there must be something hidden in that house.. but if so? Why bring so much attention to that house? If there was evidence to hide, he probably could have just burned down the thing.. I am guessing the guy is a loony who wants attention.

originally posted by: blackmetalmist
Apparently the Daily Mail (my favorite gossip rag) has been following the story.

Criminal profilers believe that a stalker who sent threatening letters to a New Jersey family and forced them out of their dream home is a local with a chip on his shoulder about money.

Criminal profilers have now given the first insights into the character of the person that may have sent them, as police continue their investigation.
Two of the three criminologists, who agree that the letters could yet be a hoax, are former profilers with the FBI’s behavioral analysis unit.
One former FBI profiler, Joe Navarro, who now works as a consultant in Florida said that the writer’s persistent use of words such as ‘rich’ and ‘fancy’ leads him to believe the culprit has issues relating to money.

www.dailymail.co.uk... FBI-profilers.html

I still think that there must be something hidden in that house.. but if so? Why bring so much attention to that house? If there was evidence to hide, he probably could have just burned down the thing.. I am guessing the guy is a loony who wants attention.

I would say the "rich" and "fancy" terminology used, along with the Wathcer's style lends more to a person that DID have some connection with the house and possibly lived there, or had family that lived there as a child. Maybe the family hit hard times and lost the house due to monetary reasons so he hold's a disdain for those with money thinking that the house is rightfully his.

As far as what's inside.....if there IS anything damning inside, I would say it, again, goes back to his days there as a child and could have been something covered up by the family when he was young....something he may not have even been part of but knew about it when it happened.

Either way.....I would be getting some ground/wall penetrating radar/xray equipment just to see.....they could hire Geraldo!

originally posted by: Thorneblood
Any similar murders/stories from the area in the past ten to fifteen years?

Indeed. The murders of members of the List family back in 1971, in Westfield NJ.

John List - the Bogeyman of Westfield

John Emil List (September 17, 1925 – March 21, 2008), sometimes labeled the Bogeyman of Westfield,[1] was a convicted multiple murderer and long-time fugitive. On November 9, 1971 he killed his wife, mother, and three children in their home at 431 Hillside Avenue in Westfield, New Jersey, and then disappeared.

Edit: Oooh ooh! Interesting fact here: Charles Addams, creator of The Addams Family was born and grew up in Westfield, NJ. Fancy that eh? Creepy and Kooky!

www.dailymail.co.uk... talker-family-demanding-triple-1-35m-sale-price.html

Looks like the old owners NEVER received a letter after all... and no copies of the so called letter have been provided.

a reply to: blackmetalmist
Sigh. Shoddy reporting. For example there is no explanation why the purchasers would undertake costly renovations if they received such threatening letters. What's missing or unclear from the report is whether they received the letters after settlement on the house was complete or after renovations were complete and just before they were to move in.

Possible suspects include the grown sons of the sellers. One of them might have objections to how the house was renovated or have trouble accepting that their childhood home was sold and changed. Many of us go through that when our parents are elderly, though usually when we are past 30. But who knows what's going through the minds of these fellows in their early 20's. It's an age where schizophrenia often manifests. And being in their early 20's it is possible one or both of them wanted to buy the house from the parents and raise a family in it but just couldn't afford to do so.

This is something I have personal experience with. There is waterfront property my husband and I wanted badly to purchase from his aunt and keep in the family but we were young and building our careers then and couldn't swing it. To this day we drive by and feel a kinship to that house when we see it. Who knows what a less stable mind would do in such a situation.

The buyers could be trying to perpetrate a fraud to get a big payoff. But when you read about them (which is a scary amount of detail that could fuel any stalker's attempts or attract new stalkers) they don't seem the type that would ever want to attract such unusual attention to themselves or who would try to wreck the lives of the sellers with such a scheme. They seem very normal on the surface. Also their educational levels indicate they would not make the kinds of errors that were made in the copies of the letter excerpts I'd seen. The mode of expression in the letters seemed that of a juvenile trying to sound eternal and mysterious. As someone with appalling taste in literature as a kid and even young adult, I've read enough crappy youth oriented mysteries that have characters that sound like that.

Whoever is investigating this better do a good job of it. There's a lot at stake for a lot of people. I feel very sorry for the children having their names and family details splashed across the tabloids. Is the Daily Mail always so irresponsible?

The testimonies of the family who owned it in the 50's-90 do indicate that the Watcher is lying. And that this manifestation is something newly made up either in the mind of one of the previous owners or the new owners or an unsuspected third party.

a reply to: SheeplFlavoredAgain

Good post. I was also wondering if maybe someone (meaning, ' The Watcher') was living inside the walls and wanted to scare the new owners out so they could continue living there knowing the house would be vacant and wouldn't sell for a long time due to the bad publicity. 'Living in the walls' has happened, especially in older homes of this size.

a reply to: Jana12
That's a chilling thought. But if it is true, the Watcher massively underestimated the scrutiny that would befall the house and himself in the Internet and tabloid journalism age.

Because the house has indeed been recently renovated, there is also the possibility that it became the obsession of one of the laborers who worked on it. A laborer surely would have the opportunity to stick something nasty inside the walls. And/or build a secret access way.

I do think whoever the Watcher is, they are under the influence of some cheesy horror literature or movies. The Watcher letters really are incredibly cheesy, like something out of bad tween and teen fiction. That is not to say they shouldn't be taken seriously. It's just a comment on the maturity level and originality of the watcher's imagination.

Again, this doesn't mitigate the threat. John Wayne Gacy was not exactly a criminal mastermind and his kills and techniques of concealment were very plain and straightforward. He just managed a prolific kill rate because the authorities and everyone around seemed to accept his flimsy excuses and they all had inexplicable blinders on. Or didn't want to be bothered over the type of men he killed. It's like he had some Jedi mind tricks up his sleeve.

I'd be really surprised if it were the buyers/plaintiffs behind all of this. If it turns out to be them, it would be one of the sickest things I've ever heard of to make up threats directed at one's own children. Even knowing it's a ruse, it is still just really against most well-adjusted normal people's parental instincts to come up with any scenario that "stars" their children in a role of jeopardy or vulnerability. Most people have an underlying fear of Karma coming up to bite them by making lies into truths and so instinctively leave their children out of schemes or tales casting them in a position of peril. I'm sorry I'm not expressing my idea very clearly but I hope everyone understands what I'm getting at.

On a superficial level, their ages, station in life, history of activities and interests don't mark them as unstable people who would do such a thing. But you never know. Weren't George and Kathy Lutz eventually debunked as frauds regarding the Amityville Horror events?

I hope this story doesn't get buried and forgotten. I hope to read about the outcome of the investigation and hear that they catch whomever it is.

This is most likely some kind of hoax but you never can tell these days. This story reminded of a case/mystery I read about recently. It is known as the phantom whistler of Louisiana case. An 18 year old woman in the 1950s had reported a stalker who would whistle a funeral dirge outside her window and would moan. The whistling intensified after she became engaged to a state trooper. Other people had heard the whistling as well and the whistler would call her family and threaten to kill her if she went thru with the marriage. The woman claimed that the whistler would find her even if she stayed at a relatives or some other location. She went and had a bit of a breakdown at work one day when she claimed to hear the whistling as did others. After her marriage to the trooper all incidents stopped. Some thought it was a prank others are unsure. As far as I have heard no one had ever been implicated.

Any new updates on this? Always seems that really interesting/creepy stories like this just get forgotten by the MSM once something more click or view worthy comes along.

a reply to: research100

hrrrm so mutiple generations watched it for no apparent reason.....something is buried either in or under that house that the "watchers" seem to want ,billy the kids treasure or some other pile of wealth or treasure? or something that is only valuable to the people watching?

a reply to: DaemonD14Youre so right. No, no updates that I've heard.