Gareth Pursehouse was found guilty on Thursday by a Los Angeles jury of murdering Hollywood sex therapist Amie Harwick, his ex from nearly a decade ago, in February 2020; she and Drew Carey were briefly engaged in 2018.
More than three years after the tragic death of Hollywood sex therapist Amie Harwick, Gareth Pursehouse has been convicted of her murder. He and Harwick dated nearly a decade before her death. She was later involved with Drew Carey, with the couple briefly engaged in 2018.
A Los Angeles jury found Pursehouse guilty on Thursday of first-degree murder and first-degree burglary. He faces a life sentence with no possibility of parole. Sentencing is slated for December 6.
Law&Crime/Getty
Amie Harwick’s Suspected Killer Seen Tampering with Ring Cameras Before & After Alleged Murder
View Story
Harwick and Pursehouse had been romantically involved for about a year and a half, but this was nearly a decade before her death. They’d broken up back in 2012. They saw one another again at a convention in January 2020, with friends testifying he then began stalking her.
At the event, the two spoke, with Harwick’s colleague and friend Dr. Hernando Chaves testifying he overheard Pursehouse telling Harwick, “You ruined my life, you bitch.”
They further alleged Harwick expressed she was afraid of Pursehouse and had gotten two restraining orders against him. On February 15, 2020, Harwick was found gravely injured underneath her apartment balcony; she died after arriving at the hospital.
Prosecutors alleged that Pursehouse lay in wait for Harwick the day before, Valentine’s Day, with intentions of killing her with a fatal overdose of nicotine. They argued that he strangled her and threw her off her third-floor Hollywood Hills balcony after her screams woke a downstairs neighbor and then fled the scene.
When he was arrested, he was covered in fresh cuts and bruises, while a syringe matching the brand as the one filled with nicotine at Harwick’s was also discovered at his home.
CBS/Getty
Drew Carey Reveals Last Text Message He Received from Ex Amie Harwick Before Her Murder
View Story
An email Harwick allegedly sent herself the same night of their interaction was also shown to the court, in which she wrote, “Today I felt very scared” after running into Pursehouse. She also wrote that he was “shaking violently” while speaking with her, adding that she felt the need to “neutralize” the situation by talking him down.
“I didn’t think he was going to attack me in that moment, but this clearly [showed] me how obsessed he was. He told me that he thinks about me every day and every day he cries. He told me he lost his job when we broke up because he couldn’t work,” she wrote. “He told me that no matter what he did he couldn’t stop obsessing over me.”
“He told me that I was a cheater and a liar, because he thought we were still together when I believed that we were broken up,” she continued. “He recited text messages that I had sent from this timeframe, about nine years ago, he recited the date, who they were [to] and exactly what was said Word for Word. I couldn’t believe it, I was very scared. He said he wasn’t able to move on … he said he thinks about me constantly.”
“I’m pretty nervous that I’m more on his radar now,” she added. “It terrifies me that he’s been obsessed with me for nine years, thinks about me every day, can’t move on, cries and throws tantrums in this way. He’s [redacted] and focused on harming me.”
CBS/Getty
Drew Carey on Why He Forgave His Ex-Fiancée Amie Harwick’s Alleged Murderer
View Story
Text messages between Harwick and Pursehouse were also shown during opening arguments, with the defendant messaging the victim after their interaction after finding her phone number online. Though he hoped to continue the conversation, she declined, saying the two could be “civil from a distance, respect each other and move forward with our own lives.”
At the time of her death, Drew Carey shared that he’d taken time off of work, returning for a taping of The Price Is Right with high school kids. “It was the first show back and everybody knew what happened to me. And so, I took time during the break to talk to these kids,” he said on The Talk at the time.
“I really wanted to do it because it was high school kids and I talked to them about how I forgave the guy who murdered Amie,” Carey continued. “I did it practically as soon as I could, right away. He was mentally ill. The guy was abused as a kid and you have to be able to forgive people like that.”
While Carey added he, of course, wished her alleged killer “never did it” and “he never met” Amie, he noted that forgiveness “doesn’t mean you have to hang out with them or be their friend.”
Speaking after the verdict, District Attorney George Gascón said, “Today, justice has been served for Amie Harwick and her loved ones who have endured unimaginable pain throughout this terrible ordeal. Our thoughts and support remain with them as they begin to heal. I want to commend the diligent work and dedication of the prosecution team from the Major Crimes Division who worked to secure this conviction.”
