Amie Harwick’s ex-boyfriend, Gareth Pursehouse, was sentenced to life in prison without possibility for parole for her tragic murder.
Pursehouse, 45, was found guilty of first-degree murder with a special circumstance allegation in September after a jury deliberated for two days for the murder that took place in February 2020.
Prosecutors said, “Mr. Pursehouse broke into Harwick’s Los Angeles home on February 15, 2020, and waited for her to return home before he brutally attacked her.”
“He then proceeded to strangle Harwick before throwing her off the balcony of her third floor,” prosecutors added during their testimony to the court.
Harwick was well known as Drew Carey’s ex-fiancee and worked as a marriage and sex therapist. She was only 38 years old at the time of her death.
An autopsy from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Harwick died from “blunt force injuries of the head and torso” and there was evidence of “manual strangulation.”
During the court trial prosecutors also argued that Pursehouse was’t able to let go of their past relationship, which ended years prior. The two had dated for approximately 18 months before calling it quits.
The “New Sex Bible for Women” author tried to take out two restraining orders on Pursehouse after their breakup.
She initially got a temporary restraining order against Pursehouse in 2011, but it was dismissed after she didn’t show up to a follow-up hearing in court.
Nine months later in April 2012, Harwick was granted a request for protection, however, the order expired two weeks before her death.
Harwick’s friend, Rudy Torres said, “He was a stalker. When they broke up, he didn’t take it well at all. He’d do stupid stuff and say stupid stuff. You’d tell him, ‘Move on, dude, leave her alone.’ And he wouldn’t.”
Harwick had become engaged to Carey, 65, in 2018. However, the two had an amicable split.
After her passing, Carey fought back tears as he paid a lovely tribute full of emotion to his late ex.
“She was beautiful and fun, and cared deeply about people and improving their lives and was just a joy to be around. And I was so in love with her,” he said on his “Drew Carey’s Friday Night Freak-Out” radio show.
Carey claimed that Harwick had been deathly afraid of Pursehouse, even during their relationship.
“I just want to say, I’m so broken up,” he said. “Even after we broke up, we still loved each other very much. Even though we broke up the engagement, I was still so in love with her. And she loved me back.”
