'Watcher' house goes back on the market as lawsuit continues

ELIZABETH, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey home supposedly stalked by an anonymous creepy-letter writer who goes by “The Watcher” is back on the market.

The current owners, a married couple with three children, bought it in June 2014 for nearly $1.4 million. But they refused to move in due to eerie letters they say they received from a person with a “mentally disturbed fixation” on the home.

The couple took the house off the market after suing the previous owners but  they recently put it up for sale again.

The six-bedroom, 3½-bathroom home is in Westfield, 25 miles west of New York City.  The listing price is $1.25 million.

Current owners Derek and Maria Broaddus claim in their suit that they should have been warned about the letter writer. They want the former owners to refund them the purchase price and pay punitive damages.

They claim they are unable to live in the home “without extreme anxiety and fear for their children’s safety and well-being.”

Former owners John and Andrea Woods call the couple’s account fiction and have moved to have the suit dismissed.

The Woods said in a court filing that they received a single anonymous note days before the closing, but they deny the note was disturbing or claimed an ownership right to the home.