Justice for Amie Harwick | Full Episode + Post Mortem | Forensic Files

[Music] I don't think the grieving ever ends it evolves we've been wanting to tell Amy's
story and just felt like we weren't ready before but now we feel like we can do it
was so proud of her and what she's accomplished oh my goodness fire eater dancer
photographer model therapist she wanted to fix people you might want to speak to this woman Dr Amy
haror as a licensed marriage and family therapist I see all kinds of different things you anxiety depression change of
life stuff break UPS moves things like that Amy helped me so much I had gone to see Amy because I had dealt with a
relationship that got very out of control and turned into a very serious stalking case jealousy can become
dangerous even lead to violence it can lead to death I want 434 yeah somebody just
attacked my roommate please get a cop here I just was woken up by screaming like blood curdling scream and and then
I realized that the screaming wasn't stopping or slowing down and I yelled up you know Amy and I heard choking right
after that I knew we were in trouble this is for real this is really happening I knew we needed help like I'm
going to have to make a break for it when the First Responders first got that call
where did they go they came right here to this house Hey sir hi I can help you my roommate was attacked I know it I I
heard it she's screaming she was thrown to the ground okay hold on okay Michael Herman was out here he's frantic he's
nervous they didn't know what to think of this guy right right they had no idea of who he was why he was involved in all
this they knew he was rambling on they had some doubts about him originally I think there okay sir do me a favor do me
a favor calm down calm down other than your roommate is there anybody else inside the house I don't know I don't
know thanks and I'm walking them around to the back of the house and it's dark back there there's
some light but it's pretty dark back there and when they get around to the back now they can see a body on the on
the ground sir sir come here I remember not knowing what I was seeing you know after
was realizing it was Amy really really what hit me was the way that she was killed so heartbreaking
that her of all people had to be taken in the way that she was I said I know who did it I just knew
it I was the only person she was afraid of it's the only one she was ever afraid
of [Music] [Music] take a seat take a seat oh my God hey we need we need to this what
happened to you in the early morning darkness of February 15 2020 police body cameras were recording as Amy Harwick
barely clinging to life outside of her Hollywood Hills Home was taken to a hospital if she said anything in the
hospital need to know that as EMTs tried to save Amy officers from the Los Angeles Police Department tried to make
sense of the scene Amy's roommate Michael Herman appeared to be the only witness he told officers an intruder had
attacked Amy I swear to you that was a struggle I heard but is there any sign of the Intruder there wasn't there
wasn't Scott masteron was was the lead detective all we knew when we showed up was that a female was found on the
ground in the back of the house we're wide open to what really went on even open to the possibility that this wasn't
foul play at all when officers searched the three-story house they found Amy's purse jacket and broken necklace on the
floor not exactly telltale signs of a crime and a discovery on Amy's balcony made them wonder if this could have been
an accident or even suicide on the deck of the balcony we found a medium siiz syringe and it was loaded with a
yellowish Brown substance yeah it's heroin when the officers first saw that they thought what was this some kind of
drug deal or exactly or maybe she was using drugs and fell over they they didn't know sir do you know her history
of drug use no she's sober she don't drink it she didn't even drink she doesn't drink she doesn't even drink
she's sober and when I first saw it I said that's not heroin not heroin but he didn't know what it was but what did you
think wasn't that odd very odd very strange and very strange to investigators says Masterson was that
Michael had blood on his shirt and although he said he was a roommate he didn't have his keys to the house when
First Responders arrived they don't know if he's part of the problem part of the
solution so you know they're thinking was he in a fight with her that was not true Michael Herman is
telling his story publicly for the first time about the events on the night of Valentine's Day 2020 and into the early
hours of the next day the word nightmare isn't even a big enough word is it no no
Amy had gone out with friend and Michael was in his downstairs bedroom I've been mostly nodding on and
off I remember what sounded like a plate drop and being woken up by it thinking it was Amy's cat he says he
fell back asleep he later woke up to Amy returning home and that blood curdling scream he then heard what sounded like
Amy being thrown to the floor and later choked the sound made you feel that there was someone up with her I knew I
knew for a fact there was somebody up there after that I'm trying to listen you don't know for sure what's going on
was he acting alone was there more than one person I just start rushing to look for my
phone but Michael says he couldn't find his phone he then started yelling to scare the Intruder I remember thinking
like this is so much worse than any horror movie I've ever seen you're realizing that to save her like you've
got to make the decision to leave her it was such a hard decision Michael fled the house to get
help but when he got to the front gate it was locked he climbed over a fence cutting himself on spiked rods
frantically he ran to the next door neighbor's house that neighbor's surveillance camera shows Michael
knocking on the door but no one answers I just kind of panic you know feeling like a a lot of time had already passed
he then ran into someone on theet Street and use their phone to call 911 you guys need to get a a cop here
quick sir the officers are on the way after spending hours at the scene investigators found something in the
light of day that they had missed before a broken window from a French door on the ground floor with blood nearby and
so as soon as we saw that okay this is our point of entry we have a crime here somebody broke into this house and did
this so this was the first piece of evidence that said to you Mike Herman might be telling you the truth correct
correct later at the Hollywood Police Station Michael told Masterson about the person he believed was responsible told
them she had an ex-boyfriend that she had had a restraining order against um that had expired I don't know his name
but Robert would know his name Robert is Robert kin one of Amy's closest friends we first spoke to Robert
in 2020 he told us what he told police they were like do you know do you know who might have you know could have done
this and I was like yeah Gareth Gareth pers house an old boyfriend whom Amy had had a troubled
relationship with when they dated almost 10 years earlier I was like you need to
go find this guy right away masteron then broke the news to Robert and Micha Amy had died at the hospital she was 38
years old how difficult was it to hear that Amy didn't make it it's still difficult to
hear as investigators worked to find Amy's ex-boyfriend they also tried to find Amy's parents Penny and Tom Harwick
in Pennsylvania the Harwick remember getting ready for bed when there was a knock at the door it was the local
police and he said Amy's been murdered it it's it's a blur right now I I don't know how to describe it
just devastated Penny and Tom's life with Amy began when they adopted her as an 11
month old baby do you remember the first time you saw your little girl oh absolutely remember kind of like a fairy
tale it's like here's this beautiful little girl sitting there she's going to come home with us and and be our
daughter it was wonderful and believe it or not she had a headful of curls and her hair was honey colored by the time
she was four it was so dark around that same time the Harwick adopted their son Chris and she was okay with it for a
couple of weeks and then she said well when is he going back and I said well he's not he's your
brother he's going to be here forever how would you describe your sister Amy was a very interesting uh
character she was into heavy metal into rock music going to concerts and Amy got
her parents in on the action too she turned Penny into metalheads her headers seriously seriously she would
always manage to get either backstage or to meet the perform perers that's just who she
was After High School Amy met Tommy Decker a drummer from La at a local concert the two began dating long
distance and then she said I want to move out there I want to move out to LA in 2001 she headed west she was 20 years
old she needed to find out who she was she needed to do that for herself soon the couple t died the not
but after a three-year marriage Tommy and Amy divorced it wasn't until 2009 that Amy
would go on to meet carth pous the man police suspected had killed her and whom they were Now searching
for heartbreak for a local neighborhood after a well-known therapist was killed at her Hollywood Hills
Home people have left flowers here for Amy Harwick and her friends and family are hoping for
justice I was very confident that you know carth pers house was our guy within 13 hours of Amy harwick's
death on February 15 2020 police descended on Gareth P House's Beachside neighborhood to arrest him
you could tell he was playing the old what's this about why do you want to talk who uh oh yeah I know Amy sure yeah
he basically was saying I've been at home detectives weren't buying that story or the explanation P house gave
for what appeared to be a fresh black eye he blamed a home renovation I said I think you better get a contractor if you
get a hold of a power tool you're going to be in real trouble P house was charged with Amy's murder on
February 19th 2020 and detectives were learning about his troubled pass beginning not long after he and Amy
began dating in 2009 they seemed like a pretty fun couple and kind of nice to see you know friends get together when
we first spoke to Rudy Torres in 2020 he talked about how the couple met Amy them
working as a model and Dancer would often run into purse house an event photographer at flashy La parties if you
would meet him you would think he's Charming little goofy kind of dorky he wasn't a musician like she normally dat
no no and she was trying to break the Habit her house was also a computer expert and an aspiring comedian here he
is one more time for Gareth everybody come on I bad news for the entertainers over there the best day of your career
is going to be the days after you die but oddly says was Amy's mother Penny her daughter didn't share much else
about him and why do you think that is well maybe she was already feeling like he wasn't who she thought he
was and Penny says her daughter never shared how volatile the 2-year relationship had become she had gone
through quite a bit with Gareth there was there was a number of police reports that were made detectives learned that
Amy had called police to report several violent incidents over the years she said that on multiple occasions Gareth
pers house had choked suffocated and punched her with a closed Fist and she even documented her injuries with these
photos but Amy's Father Tom says Amy didn't share just how bad things had gotten she didn't go into details do you
think she just wanted to protect the two of you yes yes after after Amy ended the
relationship she took steps to protect herself obtaining a restraining order against P house in 2012 but while she
was trying to distance herself from him Rudy says pers house could not let her go he always wanted to get a hold of her
and I used to tell him that he should just leave her alone and he wouldn't take no for an answer and then he cut me
off in the years after their breakup Amy told her parents that her home was broken into on one occasion strangely
the only things taken were personal photos and on another her computer was wiped clean and did she think it was
Gareth she did oh yes but no way of proving no way of proving anything of course we were worried but then we also
felt like well she's done with him it's over and it was never [Music] over and says Amy was thriving getting a
degree to become a licensed therapist hi this is Dr Amy Harwick licensed marriage
and family therapist Amy posted therapy videos on her social media Rel you can seek therapy to address an issue like
depression anxiety a breakup you can also seek therapy to be a better you but even as Amy focused on helping others
she couldn't quite shake the Shadows from her past she lost a job as a youth counselor Penny says after prospective
employer was anonymously sent nude photos of her Amy believed P house was behind it she was really upset about it
and then she wasn't sure what she was going to do despite that obstacle Amy studied for a PhD in human sexuality
earning the title doctor she took a special interest in marginalized groups sex workers and vulnerable women and she
doesn't stop she just she bounced right back I wrote a book called the new sex Bible for women no she didn't stop she
would work with these groups of people that she felt were underrepresented and needed help what
was Dr harwick's reputation Dr Amy Harwick had an amazing reputation I had a lot of mutual friends that had seen
her Emily sear is a model whose Grace the cover of Maxim magazine first started seeing Dr Amy Harwick in 200
17 in part to help her overcome anxiety she had around dating and intimacy I felt that she was relatable or I didn't
know just exactly how relatable it was even when she opened up to Amy about an abuse of ex-boyfriend who had stalked
her Emily says Amy never told her about her own similar experience and that still is something
that I am struggling to process knowing that I was sitting across from her and she had been through so much that was
similar as Amy was helping Emily work through her issues around dating Amy was Taking a Chance on a new man in her own
life Happy Valentine's Day Dr Harry comedian and host of the prizes right on CBS she was obviously really beautiful
she was really smart she just wanted to help people especially women we spoke to
Carrie in 2022 he said it wasn't long after meeting Amy at a party that he decided she was the
one and I said if this keeps going the way it's going I'm going to marry her and what happened what happened was he
ended up taking her to Paris on New Year's Eve and proposing to her she accepted Drew and Amy shared the news on
his show soon after I'd like to introduce you to my brand new lovely fiance Amy how you doing
Amy but instead of spending the rest of their lives together later that year the
couple split up how did she take the breakup she was devastated I mean she broke it off and I think that's because
while Fame was getting in the way that's because say penny Amy feared that with the added public attention she was
getting while on the arm of a celebrity she could be putting herself in danger you know who was watching and it made
her [Music] worry it hit home a lot after am passed in the way that she did how dangerous it really is for women
Emily Sears one of Amy harwick's therapy clients was shaken by the news of her death the reality is we're not safe
nobody is in dealing with some domestic violence because this was a bit different because the way Gareth persos
acted in this case was more methodical when Deputy district attorney Victor AA took on the case he was
particularly troubled by evidence that pers house had broken to Amy's house hoping to catch her off guard when she
arrived home and that's at the point that we decided to charge not only the murder charge also the special
circumstance of lying in weight these are the crime scene notes AA along with his co-counsel Deputy district attorney
Katherine Mariano reviewed surveillance and body camera video interviews with Amy's family and friends and compiled a
timeline of the events leading up to the murder became very clear to me that his obsession drove his intent to kill
her they believe that pers House's obsession with Amy was ignited when he saw her at this award show about a month
before her murder it was a chance encounter P house working the gig as a photographer Amy smiling for the cameras
enjoying the Limelight but moments earlier off camera Witnesses say an angry PSE house confront red her Penny
harick recalls Amy telling her she hadn't seen him in almost a decade he called her a and he told
her she ruined his life and she just told me how afraid she was because he was crying and causing a huge scene and
she said Mom I went into therapist mood I just tried to calm him after talking to
Gareth for almost an hour Amy left the event very worried was your reaction Penny when she was
telling you this that's when we talked about security and she said she was going to get pepper spray we decided to
start sharing locations so I could track where she was her close friend Robert klin says that sharing her phone's
location was one of the few things Amy felt she could do to feel safe the restraining order against P house had
long expired and because P house hadn't expressly threatened her Robert said she
didn't think going to police would help still he says Amy was very concerned that's when she said look if something
happens to me he did it she actually said that she literally said that she's thinking that he can cause me harm and
the very next day he finds her phone on the internet and starts texting her Gareth sent Amy a series of texts and
later left her a tear-filled voicemail I have so much I need to say please give me a chance to just say
it please please that's when prosecutors say Amy decided to block his number I believe up until that point he was
trying to manipulate his way back into her life at the point that she made the decision to block him that was her
choice and she had that right to do that prosecutors say pel started to plan to kill Amy on Valentine's Day was that
just a random date absolutely not I think he wanted to make a statement by killing her on Valentine's
Day on February 14th 20120 Amy went out with a group of friends around 700 p.m. 2 hours later say prosecutors
surveillance cameras from her nextdoor neighbor's property were activated you get those ring cameras that show a
person that looks just like Gareth Pur house with gloves when he first comes into view he covers the camera and when
the camera senses no more motion it shuts off and then he hops over the fence into Amy's yard soon after around
9900 p.m. they believe perz house broke through that French door and that's consistent with Michael Herman he heard
something breaking upstairs early in the evening and I think he just got into the
house cut himself I don't think he even realized he cut himself leaving that blood police later found nearby DNA
testing would confirm it belonged to P [Music] house and detective Masterson says where
P house went next was revealed by Amy's unmade bed I think he climbed in her bed
he was there waiting for her for quite a while how creepy is that crazy creepy that's where masteron believes
Amy found him 4 hours later when she arrived home a little after 1:00 a.m. she walks into her bedroom and I think
she just froze in shock and fear and the one thing that was on the bed was her phone so I think she actually threw her
phone at him and turned and started to run out of the bedroom and she's screaming and they're fighting and
they're wrestling how hard did Amy fight for her life I think she fought with everything she had yeah something that
appeared to look like a bite mark on his bicep and P house also had that black eye to it was indicative of Amy fighting
for her life but she was obviously up against a much bigger stronger opponent prosecutors believe purse house started
choking Amy and that's when Michael Herman yelled they believe catching Pur house by surprise and I think that plan
was definitely thwarted by the unbeknown presence of Michael Herman there I just
don't believe that he even knew that somebody was home in his Panic they believe pers house dropped that syringe
police found on the balcony it was months before lab test revealed what it contained liquid nicotine a toxic poison
that if injected into someone it would kill them why kill her that way I mean with that lethal dose of nicotine people
may not know what killed her it may not be [Music] detected with his original plan
interrupted prosecutors believe that per house carried Amy barely conscious after
being strangled to the third story balcony he lifts her right over the rail and then drops her to kill her Gareth P
house is caught on the neighbor's camera hopping back over the fence with their suspect and theory of
the crime the prosecutors were ready for trial but they were surprised by Gareth
pers House's defense blaming Amy for what happened that night [Music] [Music] in August 2023 more than 3 years after
Amy harwick's death her accused killer Gareth pous went on trial I almost didn't recognize him
right in their opening statements prosecutors Victor Avala and Katherine Mar o told jur why and how they believe
P house ended Amy's life in the early morning of February 15 2020 Dr Amy arick was murdered by defendant GTH pous
because he was obsessed with it he strangled her lifted her up over the balcony and dropped her to her death I
just pray that Amy was unconscious when she was when she went over the balcony Tom and Penny sat through every second
of the trial even the most graphic moments I need to know what happened to my daughter and we wanted to be there
for Amy yeah through the whole ordeal but the Harwick were not alone also in the courtroom a small army of Amy's
friends including Rudy Torres this is the last thing I could ever do for her although fortified by her friends
nothing could prepare the Harwick to hear for the first time ever Gareth P House's explanation about what happened
the night Amy died defense attorney Evan franel claims that running into Amy in January 2020 at
that award show had sent pers house into quote a deep debilitating depression unquote and the only way out of it was
to talk to Amy on Valentine's Day 202 20 his only intention that night was to speak to her what was your reaction to
that to put it bluntly they're making up stories cuz they have no defense and as for that nicotine filled
syringe found at the crime scene P House's defense attorney says it wasn't for Amy he brought it intending to kill
himself why didn't he no he was on a mission to kill her he was wearing gloves when he went there he covered up
the cameras what's the purpose in doing all that if you're going to kill yourself there in front of her in this
trial the defense tells the jurs they will hear from an Accident Reconstructionist who will show that Amy
fell on her own defense attorney franel then shows the jury two images a screenshot of the Reconstruction showing
an animated figure hanging from the balcony and an undated photo of Amy posing on top of a balcony railing
you'll see that she had a certain Comfort level with the balcony rail beautiful young lady wasn't she she
looked glorious what was your reaction ridiculous I couldn't take it seriously it was just so farfetched to
me she's been strangled she's debilitated so for her to then walk climb over a 3-foot rail do all that it
doesn't seem reasonable it seems actually unreasonable the defense's opening concludes with this damning
admission yes GTH first house was waiting in her home he broke into her home had he not been there she wouldn't
have died that night that is not in dispute he set a chain of actions into motions that led to her death but the
evidence will show that he never intended on killing them over the course of 10 days the
prosecution presented its evidence to prove that Gareth pous did intend to kill Amy Harwick dozens of witnesses
testify for the state including detective masteron now retired Robert kosin call Michael Herman and of course
Amy's roommate Michael Herman the man who heard it all Michael described for the jury how after that incident on the
red carpet Amy had been concerned about those French doors that pers house would
later use to break into her home Amy had met with a handyman I remember uh they were over by the the glass doors and Amy
was pointing it out and telling him we need to secure this prosecutors also play for the jury
this tape jail conversation between P house and his friends after his arrest I guess I'm officially a bad boy now right
I've always been kind of just a couple of weeks after he's been arrested for murder he's laughing
with his friends you never hear any moment of concern for Amy during that call yeah so it's not
great I'm not getting out of here why was that important I think that's one piece of evidence to show a
consciousness of guilt so he knows what's coming because the evidence shows what he did it proves what he did when
it was the defense's turn to present its case and call its expert witness to show
how Amy's fall from the balcony was an accident the defense suddenly rested without calling a single witness didn't
that hurt the defense I am sure some jurors were wondering what happened so I don't think that helps during closing
arguments defense attorney Robin Bernstein Le presented a new theory of what happened that night that Amy may
have attacked pers house we don't know who initiated the physical confrontation it is just as likely if
not likelier she preemptively attacked Gareth bur house in order to subdue him because she was afraid of him you see
that all the time don't you a 115 lb lady picking a fight with a 230 lb 6'4 man just Preposterous on its face did
that make you mad oh took all my willpower to stay in that seat to keep my mouth shut during the state's closing
arguments it's Amy Harwick who has the last word with prosecutor Marano reading from an email Amy wrote to herself hours
after her January 2020 encounter with P house tonight I felt very scared Dereck came up behind me and started screaming
I'm pretty nervous that I'm more on his radar now terrifies me that he's obsessed with me for 9 years thinks
about me every day he's focused on harming me that's the closest we've ever had to
to a victim test toyed in their murder I thought it was extremely devastating jurors had three choices
murder in the first degree murder in the second or the Lesser charge of voluntary
manslaughter when it came time for deliberation I think we all thought it would be rather quick day one went by
nothing I started getting a little worried and thinking what could they be debating
about what do you make of Gareth P House's defense see more evidence from the case at 48
hours.com I felt nervous yeah cuz you never know as jurs met for a second day to
decide Gareth P House's Fate The Waiting for a verdict began to weigh heavily on
the prosecution it's incredibly Nery the weight is the worst part and on Amy harwick's friends and family and all you
hear is just like a symphony of of anxious bellies just so everybody's nervous but as Court
was about to adjourn we were walking out of the courthouse and Rudy called down and said everybody
get up here there's a verdict was it correct that the jury has a verdict you can have the verdict forms
over to the B please with the jury and the above entitled action finding defendant Gare P guilty of the crime of
Murder in the First Degree Gareth pous guilty of first-degree murder with a special circumstance of lying in weight
what did you feel at that moment a huge relief huge relief I I just started crying and I couldn't
stop it was like pH finally after all this time he's going to be held accountable for what he
did two months later pers house was sentance to life in prison without parole he didn't say a
word Amy's friend Robert koslin Justice was rendered and that's good but we shouldn't be here at all this should
never have happened to begin with the whole in our lives remains he's impacted so many people with his actions so many
people he devastated our [Music] family a family that has grown after the verdict Tom gathered Amy's friends the
ones who have stood by them every step of this journey I said uh you are not our friends you're
family you you really have become our family could you have gotten through this without them no I don't think
[Music] so it's a testament to the amazing life and Community Amy Harwick created she
was really happy she was really happy that she had really gotten her life together man and
we were all happy Michael Herman says he still keeps replaying that night she's gone and I'm
still here you want a second chance I'm still trying to save her Michael Herman has a lot of Survivor guilt oh my
goodness he did the exact right thing he made all the right decisions do you feel
your sister got Justice I feel I feel she did Amy's brother Chris we wish that she still
could be here to to continue to help people cuz that's what she's all about we lost a friend but so many other
people lost a Healer I think of Amy every day because she she helped me so much Emily sear says she's struggling
without Amy's guidance it's just so hard to feel safe when this is the reality of
what happened to her and what happens to so many people Amy's loved ones are hoping to
change that reality after her death a petition was created to rewrite California domestic violence laws
including a statute preventing restraining orders from expiring and our biggest disappointment was it lost all
its impact when Co shut everything down prosecutor Catherine Mariano acknowledges that there are limits to
the legal system by the time it gets to our table we're in a position to act reactively rather
than proactively but as a society I think we can always do better right after the trial Amy's parents
headed home to Pennsylvania the place where they first became a family with their little girl and watched her grow
into the woman admired and now missed by so many what's the hardest part just the the absence
The Quiet One huge void one huge void and I miss our [Music] adventures Adventures remembered when
they visit Amy's grave and I couldn't get a brighter orange I know orange was your favorite
color but this is the closest I could get we're not the same people we were before but we keep trying to be we miss
you Amy every day we think of you anything you wish you had been able to say to her
just to tell her one more time that I love her I know she knew it but I wanted to be able to say it
[Music] [Music] four women at the breaking point we were desperate in fear every day an
investigative reporter comes to the rescue does he become the target this was a very personal attack he is 100%
our hero who killed Jeff Gman 48 hours Saturday on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus
[Music] hello I'm anarie green and this is postmortem this week's case about the
murder of Amy Harwick might be familiar to you if you're a longtime 48 Hours fan
this is actually the third hour 48 Hours has dedicated to Amy's story so joining
me today is the reporting team that covered this case from the beginning correspondent Aaron Mor arti producers
Richie Fetzer and Lauren white thank you so much for joining us welcome guys well
we've been living this for four years so we want to talk about this that's right
oh absolutely thank you for having us I feel like I remember Aaron when you first covered the first hour and we did
it right away the week afterwards so let me take you back to that time so it was
the early morning hours of February 15 2020 just as Valentine's Day was coming to a close it was Hollywood Hills La and
Michael Herman calls 9911 and he reports that his roommate a Woman by the name of
Amy Harwick had been attacked in their home um he's frantic he has uh some blood on him when the police get there
they find Amy Harwick she's on the ground right below the balcony and she's barely clinging to life sadly she dies
then later at the hospital now when it got lighter when the police started looking around it was clear that Mike
Herman was right somebody had broken into the house there was this shattered French door signs of a struggle in Amy's
room and then there was the really strange piece of evidence a syringe they could not figure out what it was and it
took them a while to figure out what it was it's important to know that Amy was like this amazing woman she had had so
many different lives she was at that time of marriage and family therapist but she had been an occasional
photographer a dancer a model in other she had a lot of friends tons of friends and most of them all said if somebody
attacked this woman it could only be one person a man by the name of Gareth pers
house who was an old boyfriend yeah and and not just an old boyfriend an old problem absolutely yeah um so you know
Amy's death made national headlines she had been engaged at one point to Drew Cary everyone knows and loves Drew Cary
comedian he's the host of The Price is right on CBS and so that brought a little sort of celebrity attention to it
but the story really became so much more because of the people that loved Amy her
friends and family kept it alive their advocacy work their insistence on bringing the issue of domestic violence
to the Forefront of this case well because she really became a symbol in a way this story had a big impact in LA
and nationally because this was a woman who I mentioned was a a marriage and family therapist and she focused on
helping women in toxic relationships so if she could be attacked by a former boyfriend all of us covering it thought
oh my God is there safety for anyone correct you know I think looking at this case um you know Amy was just such a a
wonderful person and um really did have all the tools necessary to succeed and it's just such a shame that she didn't
feel as though she could go to the police because Gareth hadn't uh explicitly threatened her um and so
therefore she didn't feel like she could extend the restraining order which had expired which now that's a part of her
friend's advocacy that restraining order should expire oh totally and I just wanted to say like Lauren booked one of
Amy's clients which brings up a good point because this is a woman who went to Amy for help she had experienced an
abusive ex who had also stalked her he broken into her home and Amy help her so she talked to us in this hour about the
fact that Amy had helped her and then she fell victim to this type of a crime completely took her safety away yes
because the thing about it is Amy did everything right she thought it wasn't a good relationship she got out when she
felt like she was being threatened she went to the legal system she got a restraining order she had the
psychological tools to know how to diffuse a a situation I mean this this is a woman that should have been sort of
the poster girl for how you remove yourself from this toxic abusive relationship well that's because the
problem wasn't on Amy's part it was the law exactly the Frailty of the law the limitations of the law yeah totally um
so Ain you actually spoke to Drew carry I I'm trying to like go back in time because I feel like when we first talked
about this you didn't know if J Cary was going to be willing to talk to you or not oh not at all this was this was such
a surprise because I was told okay he only has a very short time to talk to you and so I was very nervous I wanted
to get all my questions out but Drew Cary loved Amy Harwick and he wanted to talk and there was one point where one
of his people tried to you know cut it off and he waved her away he wanted to talk about her he was proud of her he
loved the way that she helped women he made such a point about that and then um you know was sad cuz they had broken up
but something we learned that just breaks our heart to this day and I think breaks his right before Valentine's Day
they had not spoken for a while and she had texted him and they made plans to meet and she never got that chance
because she was killed and so number one we hear those stories but we also learn
and he did not you know like brag about this we learned from friends after her death he helped her parents go back and
forth for the trial he was there he took her friends and made sure they got to the funeral um he rented a bus for them
so that they could go back and forth for the funeral he's a lovely man and it is
a testament to Amy it really is and so I will say I love Drew carrot even more today because I just saw such a human
side of him in an interview and I should let everyone know that interview was in
2022 that's when you were able to sit down and talk with him so this hour also has a lot of new interviews and new
evidence like the police body cam footage from the crime scene that hadn't actually been included in the previous
broadcast how did you get all these new elements to to update the hour so I mean
a big part of it we had the benefit this time of the trial had happened so we actually had access to a lot of these
elements so in the past when Aaron you know had covered the story and you're trying to make sense of a crime now we
actually you can see it happening so or you know the after there's emden that into it because there's all
these things that you've tried not to imagine and now you're actually seeing it and it's really you know upsetting
and you know frankly I think makes you angry that this happened to her but it also helped in our reporting we should
make a very big point of that because when you see the body cam footage now you understand that when the police got
there and you understand why they didn't really know what it happened so yes her
roommate Michael Herman was outside but he had blood on him and he said he's a roommate but he doesn't have the keys to
the house so they're thinking was this guy involved or was he not involved they see the syringe the young cops say oh my
God that's heroin that's what they think so they think it might be drug related when the uh weathered lead detective
masteron shows up he goes That's not heroin but they didn't know what it was and so you really get a sense from
looking at this evidence that we couldn't before of how difficult it was initially to get to the bottom of what
happened to Amy Harwick definitely that's a great point and you know with the conclusion of the trial what also
happened is you know the floodgates opened as far as people wanting to speak with us who had never spoken before so
you know we have detective Masterson the lead homicide detective the prosecutors
Michael Herman who you know really shout out to our booking producer Michelle II
she has been in contact with Michael you know since the very beginning and I would call it you know the soft touch
and the long Touch where it was just you know checking in with him not pressuring
him you know letting him voice his his frustrations or his concerns and really being there for him and and so when the
trial concluded he was ready uh the same goes with the parents you know we included a statement of theirs at the
end of the first show in full and they really appreciated that and I think they remembered that they did they told us
they told us that that they remembered that and that's what was a part of their thinking about participating this time
around you know these were two uh people Penny and Tom they adopted Amy and her brother they wanted these children so to
make sense of why Amy was taken away it took time for them to be able to talk but I think they finally after they saw
that we cared about this case too they decided that it was the best place for them to talk about this daughter that
they loved and lost she was so much a part of their lives you know they they joke you know she was into you know
heavy metal music when she was growing up and they became metal heads because of her you know and so imagine having
that huge personality suddenly gone and I think that's why it took them a long time to talk about it but then when they
did and they they smiled a lot and because kind of brought her back for that moment when they were allowed just
to talk about her so let me ask you you know at the end of the trial you get access to all this evidence some of it's
video evidence so it works really well for TV but then you have to sift through it that must have been tough very
especially I mean we talked about this you know Amy when the police get there um they call an ambulance but the
ambulance they got lost it took them a while to get to her she's on the ground this whole time and they can't they're
not touching her cuz they don't want to you know cause more issues cause more problems she's just on this ground but
words what upset me when I looked at it and I was really disturbed by this Michael Herman who was a roommate wants
to go help her he sees it for the first time on the ground and he runs to there and they go sir sir and they stop him
and in my head I kept thinking he didn't get to hold her hand I understand why the police they didn't know whether he
was a was he the attacker was he involved was he not they didn't know but the idea that her roommate couldn't hold
her hand still haunts me it is haunting and you see that in the video we wouldn't have you know unfortunately
that's what you're feeling as you're looking at this evidence that is now available to us I really felt for him
100% you know when you talked about the Survivor skeleton in the hour I thought I can totally understand it because I
imagine he must be going over that night over you know why didn't I get up when I
thought it was the cat why didn't I you know react faster when I heard her yelling like it it must have been so
hard and then to see the video and sort of relive that moment must have been tough and think about this too Amry not
only just racking your brain about all the things you could have done but this happened right before the pandemic and
the lockdowns and so he's by himself now racked with this guilt and now no way of
uh being able to get help or to to deal with it so it just really compounded the
issue for him I think in a lot of ways the grief yeah I think he's his own worst critic 100% And um the isolation I
mean he talked to us about pacing where he was and he was like damaging his feet
because he was like going over the night over and over and over again in his head
and it's it you know it's really upsetting I mean Aaron When She interviewed him had you know an
experience cuz you're see you're facing him I was you know interviewing him that
was the most raw the most honest um the most painful interview that I had sat through because even though Amy Harwick
died in 2020 and we are interviewing him near the end of 2023 that time had not passed and he was
so raw and and sadly even though he shouldn't feels responsible that he couldn't save her that was one of the
toughest interviews I've had to do we wanted to talk to him but I didn't want to cause any more pain
I just wanted to kind of help him rather than cause pain I can totally understand
that a reminder that there are always so many victims 100% you did speak to Amy's parents they
were ready to speak on camera I I love them um there was only one moment we all do oh my goodness but they caught us off
guard because um you know they're very proper and Penny is a very proper woman but when we asked her about um the
defense at the trial she came out with a word that we were not expeced an improper word oh yes we had
to bleep the word had to bleep part of the word bullsh I don't know if anyone else expected that reaction I surely did
not but it was it could not have told the the viewers more how she really felt about the defense so it was appropriate
from that perspective so another really interesting piece of evidence that you were able to show was a surveillance
video of uh Gareth P house and you see him walk up to the camera and then block it but did anyone I that was the first
time I realized that you could put your hand over a camera idea stop the action of the camera but you know what else
that shows the thought yes the planning that went into it that he planned to stop those cameras so on one hand I'm
like oh I didn't know that the other one was oh my God he did and he planned this
but you know what he was smart enough to know to wear gloves and to cover the cameras but not smart enough to cover
his face with a mask he didn't wear mask he didn't wear a mask that's very surprising I don't think he thought he'd
get caught I don't think he knew that Michael Herman was in the house and I think he thought and we will get to the
syringe but I think he thought he was going to get in he was going to commit his crime and get out and never be found
yeah I agree yeah another chilling new element of this hour is that voicemail from Pur
house he leaves it on Amy's phone after he he just kind of happens to bump into her one night I want to play a short
clip G sent Amy a series of texts and later left her a tear-filled voicemail I have so much I need to
say please give me a chance to just say it please that's when prosecutors say Amy
decided to block his number I mean at first when I heard that I thought oh that you know he sounds
like a sad guy you know you hear him crying but then you start thinking oh my God he had not really talked to her he
hadn't dated her for 9 years and he's still so focus on her and then it seems creepy you know then it's scary that's
not normal it shows his obsession and how this Obsession was sustained and also he didn't he it's not like he had
her phone number still he had to find her number online and then starts texting her and then leaves her this
this strange and she's texting back giving a boundary and then he will not stop she says you know um you know I
think the way that we ended things let's let that be I don't want us to be enemies
yeah but I think this is a boundary I need to set and let's not continue being in contact and that was not enough not
enough for him the the exact advice she would have given to any of her clients right so another detail not included in
the hour was also later discovered that pers house was texting another woman right before he killed Amy you
know if if online dating wasn't hard enough so these two women who have been talking to Gareth person house uh
unbeknownst to them you know they're texting with him on Valentine's Day and they're all making jokes and then right
after Amy Falls from the balcony he's responding ha haa to a woman and then when he's arrested 13 hours after Amy's
death he's on a date with another woman how calculating manipulative and self-absorbed you know that he took care
of one problem in his head and he's moving on of course I feel for those women you imagine you're responding to
somebody online and you find out that he's accused of killing a past girlfriend you know that's you might
want to shut down your dating profile and reassess yeah and then they had to testify I was you took that out of my
head yeah they had to testify in his murder trial to say yes these are the texts he was sending me this is the date
that we went on because the the woman that was on the date with him she asked him about that black eye oh that's a
good point he had a black eye pres you know prose UT would argue from his fight with Amy you know he attacks her and
she's fighting back fighting for her life and that's what they're assuming the black eye came from and you know
this woman is telling the police you know I asked him about it you know where'd you get that black eye and I
think he had said to her it was a shaving accident I was shaving but didn't he say the police it was a home
renovation he gave a different excuse to them yeah I was going to ask if he had been in any relationships in those 10
years I think he had you know it's interesting the change.org petition that the family created um in in Amy's memory
there's a woman that said you know this could have been me I was one of gareth's
um relationships This Could Have Been Me unbelievable yeah Gareth P house is charged with Amy's murder and you're
able to listen to and see the testimony um Amy's parents were there every day every every second every single day they
were there through and we all know from sitting through so many sadly so many murder trials uh the graphic nature you
know this is about the defendant more than it is about the victim sadly and so you see the victim in ways that no
parent should have to but they felt they had to be there for her his he had family there as well oh wow his mother
so tell about that story Lauren because that to me struck me we didn't know we found out from Amy's mother yeah so she
told Aaron during the interview that um during court one day she said it was one
of the harder days she believes it was right after they showed the autopsy photos of Amy and so Penny was leaving
the courtroom and gareth's Mom stepped out and and spoke to her and we have a clip of that exchange that wasn't
included in the hour she put her hand on my arm and leaned close and said I am just
so very sorry for what's happened to your daughter and all I could say to her was um I know you would not have chosen
this for your family she's a victim just like we were what a gracious woman so empathetic
I'm sorry that was another time even hearing it that I got all Terri during the interview because I thought here is
Penny Amy's mother worried about another mother whose son took away her daughter
I get ter just talking about it but that tells you so much about Penny and Tom they were very gracious good people
talking to Tom and Penny you start to see where Amy came from especially Penny she's this very um you know InCharge
person and you know she speaks her mind and see where her daughter came from very impressive people it's it's
remarkable the defense put out an argument that I mean it was kind of to me and I'm not a lawyer it seemed a
little farfetched well it's blame the victim defense it's the classic blame the victim yeah they were claiming that
you know Amy fell off the balcony on her own and that uh Pur house brought the syringe filled with nicotine to take his
own life they used sort of proof that she fell off the balcony this one picture of her sitting on a balcony
which they didn't even know they haven't even been able to prove that that's her
balcony that could be any balcony you know I don't know anyone else's reaction but when I saw them use this picture of
her and try to use this in the defense I had a visceral reaction to that and we didn't speak to the jury so we don't
know what they were thinking but you don't know if that type of strategy maybe might have backfired because it
made me angry the idea saying well so she was so comfortable with that balcony she might have just tried to slowly
climb off and fell right um she was too badly attacked according to the prosecutors and in too bad as shape to
have ever been able to get to the balcony by let alone climb down yes but yes that's
what they used and then even in the closings for um his um defense attorney Robin Bernstein Leb to say we don't know
who initiated the physical altercation but let me just explain why they did that they did that I mean it was a legal
strategy so you know he is charged with uh you know basically first deg grade murder premeditated murder and I think
they were hoping the jury might wonder if he just wanted to talk to her but In the Heat of the Moment um he ended up
killing her and then that might have been a little bit of a lesser charged manslaughter voluntary manslaughter
which still carries a big term but it's just so painful for the family and friends to hear that did anybody talk
more about the nicotine syringe cuz I don't think I can recall a nicotine syringe coming up in any 48 hours I've
ever watched oh yeah no are you serious we're all looking at Aaron and I should point out that the lead detective had
seen our story years before and that's how he realized that that syringe that the First Responders thought might be
heroin was not heroin it was nicotine you had another case like that I did where a man was accused and convicted of
killing his wife with a syringe of nicotine and the theory being that number one they don't usually look for
nicotine when they're doing an autop y or a talk screen um and it's very easily obtained particularly now when you can
Vape you you know you can get pure nicotine and it can kill you and unless um a medical examiner notices a because
it's injected unless they notice this little spot on the body they wouldn't have known what killed her right that
was according to prosecutors it took them months to figure out what that yellowish Brown substance was they had
to send it to the FBI in the end to finally get to the bottom of it yeah they just don't test for it right so
fascinating um his defense uh presented not one single witness which was a shock they promised
to they promised they did they said they were going to have an expert and and they showed a um an image from this
reconstruction I but they never they never you know made good on that promise I wonder what happened so in opening
statements in this case the defense was presenting to the jury their theories and one of them was this expert that was
going to use these images to show that Amy fell they used screen grabs of this computer generated image showing a body
kind of it looks like it's hanging from the balcony and it was supposed to in their argument illustrate how she fell
and that's how she got the injuries but then we never really heard much more about it because they never presented
that I I assume they couldn't back up this reconstruction cuz they would have if they could of and of course he did
not take the stand in his own defense and not even at sentencing no he never spoke at sentencing he never spoke
throughout the whole trial process of course the big moment of this episode is that pers house is finally found guilty
of murdering Amy Harwick and sentenced to life in prison without parole tell us about the victim impact statement from
Amy's mother penny so Penny Harwick gave a very moving statement about how P house you know he broke into her home he
his hands were filled with vitriol and yes he used his hands to harm Amy but his were not the last hands to touch Amy
and so she talks about how the EMTs tried to help Amy how the doctors tried to help Amy the police and then finally
at the funeral Penny and Tom tucked Amy in one last time into her casket and kissed her and touched her
and said that how much they loved her that's tough yeah it's moving emotionally vulnerable yes I mean I
can't imagine giving a public statement like that and having to do it and it also I mean facing the man who did fac
him it was so eloquent I mean it's very quintessential who she is but and you know making about her daughter and the
loss I mean it was very impactful once again an exceptional hour thank you so much for joining us very happy to be
here but it's hard for me to give a goodbye to Amy might be our last show I'm saying goodbye to her too yes you
know such an honor when Richie and I first worked on this in 2020 we were associate producers and now to be the
producers of this and be able to tell her story and hopefully tell it tell it well um it really is just an honor to to
tell This Woman's story I think honor is the word and especially with the people
that spoke to us that they trusted us and you know you just want to do right by them well thank you thank you
again listen everyone join us next Tuesday for another postmortem and watch 48 Hours of course it's Saturdays 10 N
Central on CBS and streaming on Paramount plus and if you are liking the show please rate and review 48 Hours on
Apple podcast and follow 48 Hours wherever you get your podcast you can also listen at free on the Amazon music
and wry app or with a 48 Hours Plus subscription on Apple podcasts

How Amie Harwick's roommate tried to save her and helped to convict her killer.

In 2020, Amie Harwick was killed by her ex-boyfriend and stalker, Gareth Pursehouse. Now that the case has gone to trial. Watch "Justice for Amie Harwick" and then catch up with "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty and producers Lauren White and Richie Fetzer on "Post Mortem" as they go behind the scenes on a murder case they've been covering for the past four years. The team digs into startling evidence from the crime scene, including a syringe filled with nicotine, and new interviews with friends and family who loved Amie.

00:00 Justice for Amie Harwick 41:53 Listen to a post-mortem on the episode

Listen to "Post Mortem" wherever you get your podcasts: https://bit.ly/4eCcMia

Crime. Social justice. Impact. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

Dr. Amy Harwick was murdered by ex-boyfriend Gareth P. House, leading to a trial that highlighted domestic violence issues and legal shortcomings.

Key points

The Tragic Death of Amy Harwick. Amy Harwick, a beloved therapist, was murdered in her Hollywood Hills home.
The Investigation Begins. Police investigate the scene of Amy's death, uncovering troubling evidence.
Gareth P House Arrested. Police arrest Gareth P House, Amy's ex-boyfriend, as a suspect in her murder.
Amy's Troubled Relationship. Amy's relationship with Gareth was marked by violence and fear.
The Creepy Discovery. Detective Masterson reveals the unsettling details of P House waiting in Amy's bed.
The Tragic Fall. Prosecutors detail the horrifying moment Amy was dropped from the balcony.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

The word nightmare isn't even a big enough word.

Describing the traumatic experience.

6:54WatchNov 1, 2024

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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