LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The ex-boyfriend of Hollywood marriage and sex therapist Amie Harwick was ordered today to remain jailed without bail on charges including murder for allegedly throwing the woman from her third-floor balcony in the Hollywood Hills.
The coroner's office determined that Harwick's death was caused by blunt force injuries to her head and upper body, but on Thursday, also found bodily ``evidence'' she had been choked.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Miguel Espinoza ordered Gareth Pursehouse, 41, to return to the downtown courthouse March 4 for arraignment on one count each of murder and first-degree residential burglary for the 38-year- old woman's death last Saturday.
The murder charge 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.
Pursehouse was initially arrested last Saturday afternoon by Los Angeles police outside his home in the 8100 block of Cabora Drive in Playa del Rey, but subsequently released Tuesday on a $2 million bond. He was re-arrested Wednesday afternoon on a no-bail warrant.
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.
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 lucky 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.