Graff family is based largely on a 657 boulevard in Westfield, New Jersey inhabitant from the 1970s, albeit they may not be a genuine family. John List, a real-life murderer, was the one who actually carried out John Graff’s atrocities on The Watcher. List’s link to the New Jersey neighborhood is just as ominous even though he didn’t actually own or live in The Watcher house. The New York Times claims that after losing his accounting job and borrowing money from his mother to make ends meet, List killed his own family in their Westfield home.
Last week, Netflix debuted The Watcher, a new mystery series that adds some diversity to the true crime genre by centering on a true stalking incident.
The Watcher, which is based on a story from The Cut from 2018, follows the Brannock family after they buy their ideal home in Westfield, New Jersey. The family consists of Nora played by Naomi Watts, Dean played by Bobby Cannavale, and their teenagers Ellie played by Isabel Gravitt, and Carter played by Luke David Blumm. However, as soon as the family starts receiving unsettling letters from a stalker known only as The Watcher, their excitement quickly turns to worry.
The seven-episode thriller is based on a true story, but it dramatizes the events by making minor changes to the facts—a strategy that is typical in true crime entertainment media. The series has gained popularity online and has a sizable fanbase behind it.
There are a few significant changes between the television series and the actual horror story, even if the Broadduses narrative served as inspiration for the show. Fans were therefore speculating online as to whether the Graff family from The Watcher is real. Read this article to find out if the Graff family is real in The Watcher.
Is the Graff Family Real in the Watcher? John Graff From the Netflix Show Is Based Upon a Guy Named John List!
Although the Graff family may not be real, they are roughly based on a Westfield new jersey resident from the 1970s. Graff’s crimes on The Watcher were actually committed by John List, a real-life murderer. Even though List didn’t actually own or reside in The Watcher house, his connection to the New Jersey neighborhood is just as scary.
According to the New York Times, List killed his own family in their Westfield home after losing his accounting job and stealing money from his mother to make ends meet.
According to the story, List shot his mother, wife, and his own kids as they were returning from school. According to ABC News, List murdered his family to make sure they got to heaven and to spare them the shame of losing their New Jersey mansion. In a letter intended for his pastor and then left in his home study, the former accountant confessed to his crimes.
Joe Mantello portrays the fictional character John Graff on the television show The Watcher. The Broadduses, who appear on the Netflix series as the Brannocks, relocate to The Watcher home at 657 Boulevard in Westfield, New Jersey. The family, like their real-life counterparts, begins receiving disturbing messages from an unknown source with menacing implications.
The Brannocks then employ a private investigator named Theodora Birch, who informs them that John supposedly previously owned their new property, where he purportedly resided after losing his job with his rich mother, wife, and two children. It is made known that John too got letters from The Watcher and that he killed his mother, wife, and kids as a result.
If that connection isn’t eerie enough, John also appears in other situations dressed as different persons. He appears as a construction inspector in the Brannocks’ kitchen in episode three, and in episode seven, he pretends to be a member of the Westfield Preservation Society until his true identity is revealed.
List made sure he’d be hard to find after carrying out the string of horrific murders in his own home. According to The New York Times, before fleeing the scene, he tore his face out of every picture of his family. He wandered freely for approximately a month before his family’s bodies were discovered and authorities discovered his automobile at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York. According to The Times, there was no evidence of his flying anywhere, and his house was ultimately set ablaze and completely destroyed by arson.
But, according to an ABC News investigation from 2002, List escaped to Colorado, adopted the name Robert Clark, and was married again. He avoided capture for 18 years before being arrested in 1989 when one of his former neighbors recognized him from the television program America’s Most Wanted.
In 1990, List received a sentence of five consecutive life sentences in prison. List passed away in 2008 at the age of 82 from complications from pneumonia, according to The New York Times.
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