(NewsNation) — Criminal behavioral analyst Laura Richards called the death of Dr. Amie Harwick a “murder in slow motion.”
“Unfortunately, it’s something that I’ve seen in many cases,” Richards, one of the leading experts on stalking, said during a Tuesday appearance on “Elizabeth Vargas Reports.” “You get this drip, drip drip of behavior, this insidious behavior of stalking and coercive control. … The history here is of paramount importance.”
Gareth Pursehouse, the ex-boyfriend of Harwick, is accused of killing her; the popular marriage and sex therapist was found fatally injured underneath her balcony in 2020.
Before Harwick’s death, she appeared to be thriving. She had a high-profile engagement to comedian and “Price is Right” host Drew Carey in 2018. The two had called it quits before she died but remained close.
Harwick’s 2012 breakup with Pursehouse was long before that, but friends say he was obsessed and threatening, prompting two restraining orders against him, the second of which had expired.
A friend of Harwick told NewsNation on Monday that Pursehouse may have broken into Harwick’s home months before the death and stole her belongings.
On Tuesday, the jury in the case heard from law enforcement witnesses, a criminologist and a 3D reconstruction analyst called by the prosecution.
The 3D reconstruction analyst provided an animated recreation of Harwick’s home using crime scene photographs and videos. The detailed animations allowed the jury to feel as though they were walking through Harwick’s home where the crime allegedly occurred.
Prosecutors are arguing Pursehouse broke into Harwick’s home and waited hours for her to return before strangling her and throwing her body off the balcony.
A syringe filled with a lethal dose of nicotine was also found on the balcony. The defense is claiming Pursehouse was suicidal and intended to use it on himself. They claim Harwick fell from the balcony by accident.