LOS ANGELES (CNS) - An arraignment hearing was delayed until April 16 for the ex-boyfriend of Hollywood marriage and sex therapist Amie Harwick on charges including murder for allegedly throwing the woman from her third-floor balcony, possibly after choking her, in the Hollywood Hills last month.
Gareth Pursehouse, 41, is charged with one count each of murder and first-degree residential burglary in connection with the 38-year-old woman's death Feb. 15. The Los Angeles County coroner's office determined that her death was caused by blunt force injuries to her head and upper body, but also found evidence that she had been choked.
The murder charge includes a special-circumstance allegation of lying in wait, making him eligible for a possible death sentence.
The 38-year-old Harwick, who was once engaged to comedian and ``The Price is Right'' host Drew Carey, was killed early Feb. 15 at her home in the 2000 block of Mound Street.
Los Angeles police said they went to the home around 1:15 a.m. in response to a call about a woman screaming. When officers arrived, they were met outside the home by Harwick's roommate, who told officers Harwick was being assaulted inside the home, police said.
Officers subsequently found Harwick lying on the ground beneath a third-floor balcony. She was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Pursehouse was initially arrested that afternoon at his home in the 8100 block of Cabora Drive in Playa del Rey, but subsequently released a few days later on a $2 million bond. He was re-arrested Feb. 19 on a no-bail warrant.
Several friends of Harwick attended Pursehouse's court hearing Wednesday, some of them wearing shirts bearing the woman's picture.
Police said Harwick had recently talked about her fear of Pursehouse, and the woman had taken out a restraining order against him, but it had since expired.
In court papers seeking the restraining order, Harwick accused Pursehouse of repeated acts of abuse, including slamming her head on the ground and kicking her. She claimed he had previously broken into her apartment building, smashing picture frames and threatening her via text message that the situation ``will get worse.''
Harwick, a published author, dated Carey for about a year, and they were briefly engaged in 2018.
On social media, Carey posted a short video of him with Harwick after news of her death broke and wrote, ``I hope you're lucky enough to have someone in your life that loves as much as she did.''