Amie Harwick's ex-boyfriend faces death penalty after he was charged with killing her by throwing her off balcony
The alleged killer of Drew Carey's ex-fiancee Dr Amie Harwick, Gareth Pursehouse, who was arrested over the weekend in connection with his ex-girlfriend's murder but released just three days later from prison on a $2 million bond, was rearrested and charged 24 hours later.
According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney on February 19, Pursehouse, arrested for a second time on a no-bail warrant, was charged with one count each of murder and first-degree residential burglary with the special circumstance allegation of lying in wait.
If convicted, Pursehouse, 41, faces the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole. The DA has not yet made a decision on whether they wished to seek capital punishment for Pursehouse. He will be arraigned in a downtown LA courthouse on Thursday.
Deadline reported that it was the charge of lying in wait that made Pursehouse eligible for the death penalty in the Golden State.
Harwick was found unresponsive under the third-story balcony of her Hollywood Hills home, seemingly being thrown off from an elevated surface, last week. She was rushed to a nearby hospital where she succumbed to her injuries.
The coroner confirming on Tuesday that Harwick, 38, died of blunt force injuries to her head and torso, which was consistent with being flung off the third-floor apartment balcony. The detailed ME's report was made public and it classified her death as a homicide.
The coroner’s office added that said the injuries occurred when she fell from the third-floor balcony after an altercation. The report also found “evidence of manual strangulation.”
It was unclear when Harwick started dating Pursehouse but their relationship ended six years ago. In 2011, the 38-year-old former Playboy model-turned-Hollywood sex therapist had taken out a restraining order against him which ended a couple of weeks before her death.
It was reported that Harwick had “recently expressed concerns about an ex-boyfriend" and was seen with Pursehouse days prior to her death.
Rudy Torres, Harwick's friend, told KABC that Pursehouse “was a stalker" who "didn’t take it well" after his split with the victim six years ago. “He’d do stupid stuff and say stupid stuff. You’d tell him, ‘Move on dude, leave her alone’ — and he wouldn’t," he said.