LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The ex-boyfriend of Hollywood marriage and sex therapist Amie Harwick is expected to be arraigned today on a charge of murder for allegedly throwing the woman from her third-floor balcony in the Hollywood Hills.
The murder charge against Gareth Pursehouse, 41, includes a special circumstance allegation of lying in wait, making him eligible for a possible death sentence. Pursehouse was also charged with first-degree residential burglary.
He is scheduled to be arraigned this morning in downtown Los Angeles. Pursehouse was arrested Saturday morning but was released on a $2 million bond Tuesday. He was re-arrested Wednesday and was being held without bail, according to the District Attorney's Office.
The 38-year-old Harwick, who was once engaged to comedian and “The Price is Right” host Drew Carey, was killed early Saturday at her home in the 2000 block of Mound Street.
Police said they went to the home around 1:15 a.m. Saturday 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. 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.
Pursehouse was arrested around 4:30 p.m. Saturday outside his home in the 8100 block of Cabora Drive in Playa del Rey.
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 Monday, Carey posted a short video of him with Harwick and wrote, “I hope you're luck enough to have someone in your life that loves as much as she did.”
Tapings of “The Price is Right” were canceled this week in response to her death.
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