A Friend Of The Family Peacock True Story: Peacock has recently released a new series titled “A Friend Of The Family” which is a dramatized version of Jan Broberg’s case that has been one of the most mind-boggling cases in the history of True Crime.
Jan Broberg serves as the Producer of this series as well and what is particularly interesting about this basically tells the story from the perspective of Jan who wrote in her 2003 memoir the titled “Stolen Innocence: The Jan Bromberg Story”. The true story of what happened to Jan Broberg is horrifying but it deserves telling.
Broberg Family consists of 3 daughters Jan, Susan & Karen met the Berchtold family at Church in 1976 in Pocatello, Idaho, and became instant friends. The two families became inseparable and the Broberg family lovingly started calling Bob Berchtold as “B”. After B becomes very attached to Jan Broberg, he confesses about his childhood abuse and his Church approved therapy to spend time with the Broberg family’s daughters.
After revealing he’s in an unhappy marriage, B starts to have a long affair with Mary Ann Broberg which Bob finds out about and moves out his children from the house but then Mary Ann leaves him and Mary Ann & Bob get back together.
What then started as a series of abductions of Jan Broberg by the hands of B.
First Time
Since B had been spending a lot of time with Jan Broberg, he asked Mary Ann to take her to Horseback riding and when they do not come back for a couple of days, Broberg Family involves the FBI. Meanwhile, Jan finds herself strapped on a bed and hears creepy voices telling her that she’s a part alien and she needs to mate with the chosen Male who is B, and have a baby and if not, her sisters will take her place.
Over the course of 5 weeks, B continuously r@ped and brainwash Jan who was only 12 at that time. After marrying her in Mexico, B calls his brother to pass on a message to Broberg Family to give permission to marry Jan in the US and only then they will come back but with the help of the call trace, B Is caught in Mazatlán in Mexico.
B has fed this story to Jan that she is not to tell anyone what happened, and if she did her sister Susan will be taken instead so Jan keeps quiet. Gail, wife of B blackmailed the Brobergs with the exploits of Mary Ann & B to drop the charges and well, they agree. Jan informs her parents that she wanted to marry B and have kids, because of the story she had been fed.
At B’s trial on the counts of Federal Kidnapping, he pleads guilty and gets 5 years of prison but the judge reduces it to 45 days, and gets out with only 10 days on account of good behavior.
Second Time
In August 1976 Jan disappears again with a note saying that she has gone to be with B. Broberg’s Family does not straight away involve the FBI while B continuously calls them to torture by telling them horrifying stories of what Jan is doing to make money. The FBI finds Jan in a Catholic School under the new name of Janice Tobler where B had told the nuns of the school that he was a CIA Agent, with his daughter.
READ: A Friend of The Family (Peacock) Age Rating, Cast, Next Episode Date
B is arrested again and Jan returns home after some time and starts to question what B had told her about Aliens and all and tells her parents about what happened when pressured by her best friend & her sister.
What Happened To B??
After 28 years, Jan & Mary Ann started writing a book together and started to go on tour to talk to victim groups. B did not like his name getting dragged in it and started releasing the exploits of him and Mary Ann that his wife Gail had blackmailed the Broberg Family with. Jan filed a stalking injunction on B and they both faced each other in court after B contested the injunction.
The judge found gave B a lifelong injunction to stay away from her but he again showed up at one of Jan’s speaking engagements where he was arrested again after he attacked one of the security personnel for Jan. B took his own life before he was put to trial.