Dr. Amie Harwick, a family and sex therapist who was previously engaged to comedian Drew Carey, was murdered on Saturday in Los Angeles, and a coroner has ruled that she died from “blunt force injuries of the head and torso.”
The Blast reports that Harwick’s death has been classified as a homicide, and police have arrested her ex-boyfriend Gareth Pursehouse in connection with the murder.
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At around 1:16 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 15, police responded to a call of a “woman screaming” in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Mound Street, CBS Los Angeles reports. Police say that a roommate told officers the victim was being assaulted in the home. Harwick was found unresponsive beneath a third-story balcony with injuries consistent with a fall before being pronounced dead at a local hospital. Investigators searching the home found “possible evidence of a struggle in the upstairs as well as forced entry to the residence.”
Pursehouse was arrested and booked on suspicion of murder and is currently being held in lieu of a $2 million bond. In a news release, Harwick “had recently expressed fear about a former boyfriend and had previously filed a restraining order.” The therapist had been awarded two restraining orders against Pursehouse in 2011. The Los Angeles Times reports that the first order was dismissed after Harwick failed to show up for a follow-up hearing but she was later granted a new order that was extended in 2012 and expired two weeks ago. Harwick saw Pursehouse two weeks before her death when she ran into him at a professional event.
“She said that when he saw her, he just went ballistic. He lost it. He made a scene,” friend Vera Duffy said, adding that she recalled Harwick saying that Pursehouse blamed her for ruining his life. “She was very scared. … She said, ‘What am I going to do? I let my roommate know, I have home security,’” Duffy said.
In a statement, Carey said he was “overcome with grief.”
“Amie and I had a love that people are lucky to have once in a lifetime,” Carey said in a statement obtained by Variety. “She was a positive force in the world, a tireless and unapologetic champion for women, and passionate about her work as a therapist. I am overcome with grief. I would like to thank you in advance for giving myself and everyone who loved Amie privacy while we try to work through this tragic situation.”
Carey and Harwick began dating in 2017 and their engagement was announced in 2018, though they split months later. Tapings of The Price Is Right have been postponed following Harwick’s death.
Photo Credit: Getty / Paul Archuleta
