Ex-Boyfriend Pleads Not Guilty To Killing Hollywood Therapist Amie Harwick

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) ⁠— An ex-boyfriend accused of killing marriage and sex therapist Amie Harwick at her Hollywood Hills home plead not guilty Thursday to murder and other charges.

Gareth Pursehouse, 41, has been charged with one count each of murder and first-degree residential burglary is connection with the 38-year-old woman's February death. The murder charge includes a special circumstance allegation of lying in wait.

Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek the death penalty against him.

Pursehouse is accused of murdering 38-year-old Harwick shortly after 1 a.m. on Feb. 15 by allegedly throwing her over a balcony of her home in the 2000 block of Mound Street. When police arrived, they said they found Harwick on the ground. She was taken to a hospital where she later died.

The Los Angeles County coroner's office determined that Harwick died from blunt force injuries to her head and upper body, but also found evidence that she had been choked.

Pursehouse was initially arrested Feb. 15 at his Playa del Rey home, but was subsequently released on $2 million bail a few days later. He was re-arrested Feb. 19 on a no-bail warrant, and has remained behind bars since then.

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