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Slain Hollywood Sex Therapist Asked Court to Protect Her from Ex-Boyfriend
18
Feb
Feb
Slain Hollywood Sex Therapist Asked Court to Protect Her from Ex-Boyfriend
One thing is clear: Hollywood sex therapist Amie Harwick feared ex-boyfriend Gareth Pursehouse enough to ask a court to issue restraining order against him—twice.
Online court records show the former Playboy model and fitness trainer filed for a protective order in 2011, got one, and then petitioned the court for another one the following year. The second was dismissed for what the docket listed as “lack of prosecution,” which often means the person seeking it did not follow up.
The courts were closed for the federal holiday Monday so details of Harwick’s complaints against Pursehouse were not available. But the LAPD said she had seen him two weeks ago and had “recently expressed fear” of the 6-foot-4 computer programmer.
Then, early Saturday morning, Pursehouse allegedly burst into Harwick’s Hollywood Hills home and began attacking her. According to a narrative issued by police, her roommate was so terrified he jumped over a wall to run for help.
The officers who responded to the house found the 38-year-old on the ground, below a third-floor balcony, police noted. She later died at the hospital from her injuries. That afternoon, police arrested Pursehouse, 41, at his own home on suspicion of murder based, in part, on the signs of a ferocious struggle inside the home.
The homicide drew headlines not only because Harwick was a well-known therapist who made frequent appearances on podcasts and TV shows, but because she had also once been engaged to Price Is Right game show host Drew Carey. They called it off in 2018.
Carey issued a statement Monday that said he and Harwick “had a love that people are lucky to have once in a lifetime.”
“She was a positive force in the world, a tireless and unapologetic champion for women, and passionate about her work as a therapist,” he said. ”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.”
Friends and clients of Harwick publicly mourned her as a vivacious personality and passionate advocate—especially for women.
“She was just a good person, who always saw the good in everyone,” pro wrestler Jasmin St. Claire told The Daily Beast.
St. Claire met Harwick in 2003 when both were modeling for Coffin Case, a guitar case company. St. Claire opened up about problems she was having in her marriage at the time.
“Amie was talking to me about it and I thought this girl seems really smart,” she recalled. “I told her, you know, ‘Are you a therapist? You should be a therapist.’”
