Images from court show an unrecognizable Gareth Pursehouse and the syringe full of nicotine he allegedly brought to Dr. Amie Harwick’s home.
The ex-boyfriend of a Hollywood marriage and sex therapist has been convicted of her murder.
Jurors in Los Angeles convicted Gareth Pursehouse, 45, for the slaying of Dr. Amie Harwick, 38, thrown from her third-story balcony, prosecutors said. He was also found guilty of a special-circumstance allegation of murder while lying in wait and first-degree burglary of Harwick’s home. He faces life in prison without parole when he’s set to be sentenced on Dec. 6.
“Today, justice has been served for Amie Harwick and her loved ones who have endured unimaginable pain throughout this terrible ordeal,” District Attorney Gascón said in a statement. “Our thoughts and support remain with them as they begin to heal. I want to commend the diligent work and dedication of the prosecution team from the Major Crimes Division who worked to secure this conviction.”
Harwick was killed on Feb. 15, 2020, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a news release. Hollywood patrol officers responded around 1:16 a.m. to a radio call of a “woman screaming” in the 2000 block of Mound Street in Hollywood Hills.
When officers arrived, they were met by a roommate who was in the street. He informed officers the victim was being assaulted inside of her home. The roommate had jumped a wall and went to neighboring residences to call for help, police said.
The suspect was quickly identified as Pursehouse, and he was arrested.
Police found Harwick unresponsive and gravely injured beneath the balcony. She was taken to a hospital, where she died.
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Police said they found evidence of a struggle upstairs, and someone had broken into the home.
“A canvass of the area located further evidence of an intruder (suspect) entering the property and leaving after the murder,” police said.
Detectives were quickly led to Pusehouse after learning that Harwick had expressed fear about her former boyfriend and had filed a restraining order against him that had expired. She had seen him two weeks before she was killed.
Pursehouse was arrested on the afternoon of the murder at his home, released on bond days later on bond, and re-arrested on a no-bail warrant.
During the trial, one of Pursehouse’s defense attorneys, Robin Bernstein-Lev, said her client was overwhelmed after they broke up, “impulsively broke in” to Harwick’s home in a “desperate attempt” to talk to her and told jurors she climbed over the balcony on her own and fell to her death, CBS News reported.
Harwick was an author once briefly engaged to “The Price is Right” host Drew Carey.
Law&Crime’s Alberto Luperon contributed to this report.
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