A nationally known sex therapist who hails from Lansdale, Montgomery County, is dead under suspicious circumstances and her ex-boyfriend is under arrest.
All this, after Dr. Amie Harwick was found on the ground beneath a third-story balcony at her home in the Hollywood Hills with injuries consistent with a fall just after 1 a.m. Saturday, 6ABC in Philly reports.
Los Angeles police said later Saturday they have arrested Harwick’s former boyfriend on suspicion of her murder.
Gareth Pursehouse, 41, was arrested around 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. He is being held on $2 million bail.
Amie Harwick was found critically injured at her home and later died. pic.twitter.com/C2udF3nsj7
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) February 17, 2020
Detectives said Harwick, who once was engaged to actor and comedian Drew Carey and was popular on social media where she discussed her work as a therapist, had previously filed a restraining order against Pursehouse, but it had expired. She also voiced fears about Pursehouse after encountering him just two weeks before, police told ABC.
Harwick, 38, was a licensed marriage and family therapist who wrote the 2014 book “The New Sex Bible for Women.”
JUST IN: LAPD Releases New Details After Amie Harwick, Drew Carey’s Ex-Fiancé, Murdered - https://t.co/pjDxItrT0S pic.twitter.com/v4ja4rqCwC
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) February 17, 2020
Police were summoned to Harwick’s residence early Saturday morning following reports of a woman screaming. Officers found her unconscious and mortally wounded under a third-floor balcony with injuries consistent with a fall. Her roommate, who met arriving officers in the street, said Harwick was attacked in the home and he had narrowly escaped by jumping a wall, authorities said.
The roommate reportedly jumped a wall and went to neighboring residences to call for help. After police entered the property, Harwick was found unconscious and suffering “grave injuries.” She later died at a hospital.
In a news release, the Los Angeles Police Department said investigators searching for clues in Harwick’s home found “possible evidence of a struggle in the upstairs as well as forced entry to the residence.”
“A canvass of the area located further evidence of an intruder (suspect) entering the property and leaving after the murder,” police said.
One of Amie Harwick's friends said that the ex-boyfriend accused of killing her had been "obsessed" with her for years and that she had considered getting pepper spray to protect herselfhttps://t.co/ARbcngkg5a
— KTLA (@KTLA) February 17, 2020
Pursehouse was taken into custody by an FBI-LAPD fugitive task force in Playa del Rey on Saturday afternoon. He is being held on $2 million bail, according to jail records.
Charges in the case are expected this week.
