Man Walks Outside To Find Decapitated Roommate

Hey sir, how can I help you? My roommate. was attacked. I know it. I heard I heard. it. She's screaming. She was thrown to. the ground. [laughter]. Sir. [music]. Sir, come here. This man just led police to a dead body. The victim, Amy Harwick, a celebrity. therapist, was found lying unconscious. under her thirdstory balcony. Officers. were immediately [music] suspicious of. Amy's roommate, Michael Herman. Hey, can I see your hands?

Yeah, that's what I poked it on the. climbing over the fence. Okay, got it. I don't know, dude. Something. Something's off. He might be a blood. The blood on Michael's hands and the. signs of struggle found inside Amy's. bathroom made it clear that this was a. crime scene and Michael is the prime. suspect. Do. you still hear screaming? I still heard screaming when I was when. I was leaving. I yelled up there, "Hey, mother." Cuz I wanted her to think I was. coming upstairs that maybe he'd like. stop and run.

However, detectives began to have. doubts. The further they investigated, the clearer it became that there was. more to this crime than meets the eye. And as they dig deeper, they uncover. that Amy had a history of troubled. relationships. And many people had it. out for her. But one relationship stood. out from the rest. One that was plagued. with stalking, violence, and abuse, leaving disturbing clues that would lead. detectives to one deranged killer.

I have so much I need to say. Please. give me a chance to just say it, please. At 1:11 a.m. on February 15th, 2020, 911. received a harrowing call from Amy's. roommate. I want to reduce 434. Yeah. Somebody just attacked my roommate. We're at 286 Street. Find out. How was he assaulted? What happened? I don't know. I was downstairs. I heard.

screaming. Uh, please get a cop. You're. okay. Who's screaming inside? Um, can't think right now. Um, Amy Amy. Carwick. I mean, who is she to you, sir? She's my roommate. Okay. Is she screaming for help? Yes. Okay. Did you see anything? No. Okay. No, I heard I heard her screaming and I. heard her being. All right. So, I'm going to find out. that somebody's screaming. Okay. Since. you didn't see anything, you don't know. she's being attacked. You're not sure. Yes, I know she's being attacked. I.

heard it got thrown to the ground. With sirens blaring, multiple law. enforcement agents rush to the scene. The information that they have as they. arrive is limited. All they know is that. there is a situation with a screaming. woman and that somebody appears to be in. danger. As soon as they arrive, Michaelin, Amy's roommate, is the first. person to come into contact. Hey, sir. Hi. How can I help you? My roommate was attacked. I know it. I. heard I heard it. She's screaming. She. was thrown to the ground. I I couldn't. find my phone. I couldn't find anything.

else. Okay, hold on. Okay, so you have access. to here. Is there anybody else inside. the house? My roommate. Just your roommate by herself? Yes. You didn't check on her, dude? I heard screaming. I don't know if. that guy had a guy a gun or a knife. I. came running trying to I couldn't find. my phone. Is there somebody else inside? I think there's. 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. So, you didn't see anyone? You just. heard? No, I just heard her screaming. I found. it. She got thrown to the ground. I've. been calling for her through these. windows. Nobody's answering. Nothing. So, you're Where's your key at?

Inside. Downstairs. The back door is. open. Hey, you're good. You're good. You're good. [groaning]. Shoot. 6815 advises the responding unit that we. had to hop the fence. We're going to be. at the rear of the location.

Sir, sir, come here. Relax. Take a seat. Take a seat. Oh my god. What was going on tonight? Yo, I'm. asleep. I've been asleep all night. When officers move into the courtyard, there lies Amy Harwick, 20 ft beneath. her third floor balcony, going into. continuous seizures with glass. surrounding her body, bro. She's having a seizure. Oh, Jesus.

Amy lived in a relatively safe area in. Hollywood Hills and was a well-known. family and marriage therapist. So her. home being broken into was unusual and. whoever did it made sure she had a. painful death. She was thrown off her. balcony resulting in several serious. injuries. The trauma to the head was so. severe that it had resulted in a subgal. and a subdural hemorrhage sending her. into continuous seizures. Not only that, but her neck showed signs that she had. been strangled before falling off her.

balcony. Even though Amy started. receiving urgent care, this situation. was far from over. Not knowing whether. the asalent is still in the house, officers began to breach and clear the. ground floor. Do you know if there's. anybody else inside the house? I don't. I don't. What happened to you? Anyone else inside? It's the LAPD. Come. out with your hands up. Hey, somebody pat him down, please. He might be. on my couch. Anyone else inside? This is.

LAPD. Come out with your hands up. Got you. My light. I got your light. Okay. All right. So, you guys can move up in. unison. Ready? On you guys. Just hold it. They're going. to move up in unison. You You're good. Pause. Whenever you guys are ready. Go. ahead. Go. Go. Go. Go. Go back in. All right. I got an open room. There's a. There's a balcony to the top. Got couches. Looks like a kitchen to the. right. Unfortunately, the one.

responsible for Amy's condition has. managed to escape. And [music] as cops. make their way through the home, they. notice that everything is organized and. spotless besides a few areas of. interest. It's sticky. bees. This is urine. Urine, but not in the bathroom. Amy's bedroom was a mess with the covers. thrown off and a pool of urine in the. connecting bathroom. Often when a victim. is strangled, it results in the. involuntary loss of bowel control. Moreover, officers would discover.

something strange. Right on the balcony. from where Amy fell, a syringe filled. with nicotine had fallen to the ground. Um, so there's a loaded syringe on this. right here. Extreme doses of nicotine. like the one found in this syringe act. as a poison causing organs in the body. to fail and slowly kill an individual as. they suffer from vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, and severe abdominal pain. Strangely enough, these types of drugs. were never even present in the home. And.

[music] even if they were, Amy would. never take them, as her roommate. explains. Um, a lot of sarin. So. sir, do you know her history of drug. use? No, she's sober. She doesn't drink and. she doesn't even drink. She doesn't drink. She doesn't even drink. She's sober. Drugs. So no, nobody in this house is is doing. drugs. Um I I smoke pot and stuff. Yeah. Okay. What do you mean stuff? Well, I smoke pot rooms every now and. then. Okay. So she's sober completely. She's sober completely. How how how sure of that are you? I'm positive. I'm absolutely sure.

I don't know, dude. Something. something's off. That rig is is loaded completely. Yeah. Hasn't been used yet. It hasn't been used. Hey, can I see your hands? Yeah, that's what I poked on the. climbing over the fence. Okay, got it. What about this one here? I don't know what that is. Uh, I guess. Can you Can you pull your uh Can you. pull your uh sleeve back on this one. right here? Oh, no. On this one right. here. This. Can you flip it for me? Can you do me a. favor? Look up.

Can you pull your shirt down a little. bit? Sure. Really? So, this is really like shady. shaky. This whole thing's very weird. And then, did you see that? How it's wrapped around him? It's weird. Although Michael seems incredibly. suspicious, finding out whether he's. guilty comes second. The first priority. is to ensure Amy's survival, whose. condition was worsening by the second. Her pulse was nearly non-existent and. she was rushed to a nearby hospital. where it was determined that she had. sustained many serious injuries since.

dropping about 20 ft from the balcony, including lacerations to her liver and. brain damage. And despite [music] the. best attempts from doctors, Amy Harwick. was soon pronounced dead. The syringe filled with nicotine, Amy's. injuries before the fall, and no missing. items. These were all clues that this. was not a burglary gone wrong, but a. planned murder. For police, this would. make sense because working as a. specialized sex therapist, and one that. was very public with several shows and.

media presence at the time was risky. There could have been too many people. who had it out for her since therapists. often have to deal with emotionally. problematic and sometimes obsessive. individuals. For now though, Michael. Herman was the only person around Amy. when she was murdered, making him the. first suspect. Michael was already a. suspicious individual, as his frequent. cannabis use led officers to believe. that he had at least some knowledge of. drugs and could be behind the nicotine. syringe. But more telling was the fact.

that his arms were covered in blood and. scratches, which made him look even more. guilty. So to get to the bottom of this, Michael was brought in for an interview. where he would stay adamant about his. innocence. Can you remember? Do you still hear. screaming? I still heard screaming when I was still. hearing scream. And when we were at the. house, you. was when I was yelling cuz when I was. leaving, I yelled up there. Hey, mother. Really loud. Cuz I wanted her to think I. was coming upstairs. So maybe he'd like. stop and run, you know? That was. You would know that he's not in the. house with two of them.

Right. Right. Right. Right. And I didn't. know if it was like, you know, I didn't. know if it was multiple people. I, you. know, I just didn't know. and and. [music]. um I just hope that that would like that. that would make the person flee. Michael claims that after returning. home, he heard screams from inside the. house and then shouted loudly to scare. off the potential attacker. He then. entered the home to find the front door. open and Amy Harwick's body on the. ground. He immediately called 911 and. attempted to provide aid while waiting. for emergency responders. Not only does.

Michael fully cooperate with law. enforcement, but he also has a solid. alibi and witness testimony supporting. his account. Additionally, there is no. forensic evidence linking Michael to the. crime. Still, detectives can't rule out. Michael just yet, [music] as there are. no other suspects, and nobody had seen. anyone outside of Michael enter or leave. the building. But this is when police. received footage from a nearby Ring. doorbell camera. A crucial piece of. evidence that would turn the entire case. upside down. When the cops looked at the.

footage, they saw Michael come running. out of the home trying to wake up the. neighbors and call for help. This was. exactly what he told them he had done, which confirms the fact that he was. likely only a witness to all of this. But the camera also picks up someone. else at the scene. A strange male figure. wearing gloves, hopping fences, and. running through backyards. In many. cases, this man can even be seen. covering cameras with a gloved hand. Undeniably, this masked individual was. the one responsible for this murder. But.

finding out who this could be was. difficult. As they began looking into. her life, there were very few people who. wanted to hurt her. She was on good. terms with her family and friends and. had almost no enemies. So, police began. to believe that this may have been a. case of one of Amy's past relationships. coming back to haunt her. But yet again, almost all of her boyfriends came up. clean. All but one of them, Gareth. Purouse, a man who was reported by Amy's. friends to be an obsessive ex-lover and.

someone who had previously stalked her. But before officers look into Gareth, they decide to consolidate all of the. evidence they have first. Because of the. presence of the syringe filled with pure. nicotine, detectives believe that. whoever broke into Amy's apartment. intended to kill her by injecting her. with the syringe, but that their plans. somehow went arry. Amy began resisting, and a physical altercation occurred that. would be proven by a black rosary that. Amy had been wearing around her neck. Beads of this rosary were found trailing.

all the way from her bedroom to the. balcony. Not only that, a black leather. jacket that was turned inside out was. also discovered at the scene. It is. likely that the attacker snuck up behind. her, grabbed her by her jacket, and a. struggle ensued. The attacker then. likely choked Amy, dragged her out to. the balcony, and threw her over the top. With all of this in mind, officers began. looking for somebody who would want to. hurt Amy in this manner. Undeniably, the. masked individual was responsible for. the murder. However, identifying them.

could be challenging because despite. being a well-known public figure, Amy. had no known enemies. Police start their. investigation by questioning friends and. family of Amy, looking for any clues on. who could have committed this heinous. crime, and it wouldn't take long for. them to get a strong lead. Amy's friends. revealed to police that about a month. before her murder, they began receiving. concerning messages from Amy. She. expressed fear for her life, mentioning. that she had recently encountered a. stalker. A stalker which it would turn.

out she had an abusive relationship with. a decade prior. 41-year-old photographer. Gareth Purse House. Amy and Gareth had. met 10 years earlier in 2011 when Gareth. had worked as a photographer on a. therapy event Amy attended. They dated. briefly, but Amy's friends took note of. the relationship being far from normal. In May of 2011, Amy tried to file a. restraining order for the abuse she. suffered in the relationship. Gareth. often suffocated her, slamming her.

against the walls, dropped her on the. ground, and punched her. Yet somehow, this order was denied as authorities. believed there was a lack of evidence. Of course, this meant a quick end to the. relationship, at least for Amy. This was. unacceptable for Gareth as he started. obsessing heavily over Amy and his. emotional state worsened. But Amy was. the one who'd have to face the brunt of. Gareth's mental decline. In the months. after the breakup, weird occurrences.

began happening at Amy's residence. She. would walk into her home to find picture. frames were smashed. Sometimes there. would be roses taped to her front door. And on other occasions, Gareth would. refuse to leave her doorstep for hours. A year later in 2012, Amy tried to file. another restraining order against Gareth. because he had once again assaulted her. and dragged her out of a car. Fortunately, this time the order would. be approved by a judge, barring Gareth. from seeing Amy for 5 years. However,

according to her closest friends, Gareth's behavior became even more. creepy and intense in the years after. the restraining order was issued. If. Gareth couldn't see her physically, he'd. tarnish her reputation on every one of. Amy's social media pages. [music] Every. single time she posted, she would get. derogatory comments, and all of her. publications in her field as a therapist. would get bombarded with comments. criticizing and degrading her work. But. things would take a turn for the worst.

one month before Amy's murder. On. January 17th, 2020, Amy was attending. the XBiz Awards, where she was a. panelist of an organization called. Pineapple Support, which was meant to. focus on therapy related to workers in. the sex industry. However, as Amy was. having drinks before her segment began, she would hear a familiar voice, Gareth's voice, who was working as a. photographer at the event. At this point. in time, Amy had not seen Gareth in. nearly a decade. Yet, he would approach.

Amy angry and upset, saying that she. ruined his life. One of Amy's friends. would outline what the two talked about. as Amy called him for help. The first. phone call when she called, I couldn't. hear. It was a lot of loud commotion. It. was chaotic. [music] So, I couldn't. understand and I hung up. And then 30. seconds later, I received another phone. call from from her as well. And all I. could hear amongst the chaos or the. sounds that were sort of the the loud. sounds was get the f over here.

Initially seen them walk away. I first. checked in with my friend who called me. and she told me this guy is freaking out. on your friend. So I then walked over to where the two. of them had walked to. And as I was. walking towards them, the only words I. heard was, "Ruin my life, you bitch.". After this event, Amy was extremely. scared of Gareth and told friends and. family that if anything happened to her, Gareth would be responsible. And he had.

sent her voice messages after the event. I have so much I need to say. Please give me a chance to just say it, please. and her concerns were proven to. be true because when officers matched a. picture of Gareth to the man seen on the. Ring doorbell footage on the night of. the murder, it was an exact match. But. for authorities to be sure that Gareth. is the same man they're looking for, they needed to search his home. Obtaining the warrant itself was not. hard because the sheer amount of.

evidence against Gareth gave officers. reasonable suspicion to do so. However, this suspicion would soon turn into. shock as syringes filled with nicotine. were discovered in Gareth's home, exactly like the one found on Amy's. balcony. Not only that, but Gareth. himself had sustained injuries [music]. on his body and had bloody clothes. scattered all over the home. But there. was one piece of evidence that proved to. be a definitive breakthrough in this. case. A DNA comparison between the. fingernail scrapings of Amy's body and.

Gareth would turn up an exact match. Detectives knew that this was exactly. the man they were looking for. So by. about 5:00 p.m. the day after the. murder, the cops locate and approach. Gareth Pur House. In the face of. Gareth's history with Amy and him being. caught on camera, officers decide to. charge him with Amy's murder. While. sitting in jail awaiting a murder trial, Gareth doesn't show an ounce of remorse. In fact, while on a jailhouse phone call. with some of his buddies, he cracks. jokes and makes light of the whole.

situation. He even tells them that due. to the public's interest in him, they. could become millionaires by selling old. jokes he told while working as a. stand-up comic. But this is far from the. strangest thing he says. Turn those into. a book. Try to find try right now. actually try to find a uh publisher. that'll give you money ahead of time for. for that just based on my name because. of the media. Like that could be a. million bucks. I don't know. Uh but I I. do have a joke for you. Uh what's what's. the most feminine candy bar? Huh?

Hershey's. [snorts]. [laughter]. At least you have your sense of humor. Yeah. You got your sense of humor. You're making the best of it and. everything. Yeah. Uh well, and also people are. posting like crazy hate and there's like. why why bother? So So you you said you're not getting. out. Correct. Ever. Is that what you're trying to say? Yes. I've I've seen what's coming at me. and it's not good. I'm not getting out.

Super fun. Gareth Pur House has made it very clear. that he believes he is going down for. Amy's murder and he has completely. accepted that. One could likely assume. that if this man were not truly guilty. of this horrific crime, he would not be. speaking this way. Despite this, Gareth. was bonded out of jail before his trial. began. But Gareth was certainly. panicking because right after he was. released on bond, the first place he. visited was Los Angeles International. Airport to escape the country. Normally,

a person who has their bond posted is. not allowed next to any airports or. borders to prevent them from leaving the. country. And if they're found doing so, they're arrested immediately and given. no chance for a second bond. exactly. what would happen to Gareth as he was. arrested once.