By TERRI VERMEULEN KEITH
LOS ANGELES — The ex-boyfriend of a well-known marriage and sex therapist was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the woman’s deadly plunge from the third-floor balcony of her Hollywood Hills home.
Gareth Pursehouse, 45, of Playa del Rey, was convicted of first-degree murder for the killing of 38-year-old Amie Harwick in the early morning hours of Feb. 15, 2020.
Jurors deliberated about two days before finding Pursehouse guilty Sept. 28 of Harwick’s killing, along with the first-degree burglary of Harwick’s home.
The panel also found true a special circumstance allegation of murder while lying in wait.
Prosecutors argued during the trial that Harwick was caught by surprise by Pursehouse, who broke into her home, waited for hours, attacked her and then tossed her off the third-floor balcony.
In his closing argument, Deputy District Attorney Victor Avila told jurors that Pursehouse decided on Valentine’s Day to end Harwick’s life and that she “doesn’t know what’s waiting for her at home” when she returned early the next morning after a night out with friends.
The prosecutor said Pursehouse was a “man who couldn’t move on,” and noted that Harwick had written an email to herself and sent text messages to friends indicating that she was scared of Pursehouse after randomly seeing him at an event about a month earlier and rebuffing his subsequent attempts to stay in contact with her.
“He didn’t go there to talk. He’s on a mission,” the prosecutor said. “He’s angry, he feels rejected.”
The deputy district attorney said Pursehouse broke into the woman’s home, waited for three to four hours, punched and strangled her as she tried to fight for her life and then dropped her over the balcony.
“This is not a defendant who is depressed,” Avila said.
The two had dated years earlier for about 18 months, with Harwick ultimately obtaining a restraining order…
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