A 41-year-old Playa del Rey man was arrested for the murder of a prominent Hollywood family therapist, Los Angeles police said Sunday.
Gareth Pursehouse, a former boyfriend of the victim, was arrested about 4:30 p.m. Saturday and booked for the murder of Doctor Amie Harwick, according to jail records and the LAPD. He is being held on $2 million bail.
On Saturday, about 1:15 a.m., LAPD officers responded to a call about a woman screaming in the 2000 block of Mound Street in the Hollywood Hills, the department said.
When officers arrived, they were met by the victim’s roommate, who was in the street, the LAPD said. He told the officers Harwick was being assaulted inside her home. The roommate had left the house, jumped a wall and went to neighbors to call for police.
Responding officers found Harwick lying on the ground beneath a third-story balcony, the LAPD said. She was gravely injured and unresponsive. Paramedics took her to the hospital, where she later died.
The investigation found evidence of a forced entry and struggle inside the home, the LAPD reported. A canvass of the area found additional evidence of the killer entering the property and leaving.
Detectives learned that Harwick had recently talked about her fear of a former boyfriend, Pursehouse, police said. She had taken out a restraining order against him but the order had since expired. Harwick had reportedly seen Pursehouse about two weeks before her death. Agents from the FBI-LAPD fugitive task force arrested Pursehouse outside his residence in the 8100 block of Cabora Drive in Playa del Rey.
Anyone with information on this murder or about Pursehouse was asked to call West bureau homicide detectives at 213-382-9470 or the LAPD’s 24-hour tipline at 877-527-3247. Tipsters can also call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
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