Gareth Pursehouse, 41, on Tuesday was released from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department after making $2 million bail.
The California man charged in the death of Hollywood sex therapist Amie Harwick, ex-fiancee of comedian Drew Carey, has been released from jail, records show.
Gareth Pursehouse, 41, on Tuesday was released from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department after making $2 million bail.
His release comes three days after police responding to a report of a woman screaming about 1:15 a.m. Saturday found Harwick, 38, laying three stories below her apartment’s balcony. She was rushed to a nearby hospital but was unable to be saved. She died from blunt force injuries to her head and torso in what was determined to be a homicide, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner said.
Pursehouse was arrested later that day.
Harwick had applied for two separate restraining orders against Pursehouse, once in 2011 and again in 2012. “He has suffocated me, punched me, slammed my head on the ground, kicked me,” Harwick told police, according to the restraining order obtained by CBS Los Angeles.
Police said Harwick told them of one incident in which Pursehouse allegedly broke into her apartment complex and “smashed 10 picture frames on my door.”
Harwick said Pursehouse texted her, “Things will get worse,” which prompted her to call police.
Harwick’s restraining order against Pursehouse was expired at the time of her death, police told the New York Daily News. “The victim had seen this former boyfriend two weeks ago,” police said.
Harwick was a licensed marriage and family therapist who appeared on television and wrote the book “The New Sex Bible for Women.”
She worked to help those experiencing domestic violence as well, her loved ones said.
“Amie cannot die in vain,” friend Dr. Hernando Chavez told CBS. “Her life had meaning, her life was so important to so many people, and we’ve got to utilize this as an opportunity to move forward with more protection and more safety for people.”
Harwick was engaged to Carey,“The Price is Right” host, in 2018. The pair broke up before marrying, but their split was reportedly amicable.
“I hope you’re lucky enough to have someone in your life that loves as much as she did,” Carey, 61, wrote on Twitter Monday, sharing an image of himself with Harwick sitting and smiling with a giant animatronic polar bear.
Pursehouse’s next court date was not immediately clear.
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