Peacock’s A Friend of the Family miniseries is currently dramatizing the story of Jan Broberg, a woman who was abducted twice: Once when she was 12, and again when she was 14 years old. The man who took Jan was not a stranger to her or her parents. His name was Robert Berchtold, and he was the titular “friend of the family.” While the miniseries still has a few episodes left before the finale on November 10, the real Jan Broberg is confronting that dark period in her life in Peacock’s upcoming companion documentary, A Friend of the Family: True Evil.
In the trailer above, Broberg touches upon one of the most shocking aspects of her story: Berchtold was sexually intimate with both of Broberg’s parents. But this sexual predator also set his sights on Broberg when she was just a child, and he attempted to brainwash her while abusing her and taking her away from her family twice. It’s a horrific experience to relive even decades later; yet, perhaps the cruelest twist is that Broberg wasn’t Berchold’s only victim.
The name of Berchtold’s other victim isn’t mentioned in the trailer, but she is seen speaking with Broberg as they attempt to come to terms with what happened to them when they were children. It’s not a happy story by any stretch of the imagination, yet through this tragedy, Broberg and her family have endured and found a purpose by exposing the evil things that were done to her.
A Friend of the Family: True Evil will premiere on Peacock on November 15.
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