Charges: Ex-Bothell council member had breakup ‘tantrum’ before killing

BOTHELL — A former Bothell City Council member had dated a 20-year-old woman for months before killing her this week, according to court papers filed Friday.

Prosecutors charged James McNeal, 58, with second-degree murder in the killing of Liliya Guyvoronsky in King County Superior Court.

Guyvoronsky met McNeal while she was working as a “stripper,” Seattle detective Scott Hatzenbuehler wrote in a report. They dated and McNeal bought her dresses and shoes, her parents told police. When she stopped working at a strip club, McNeal reportedly started supporting her financially. Prosecutors estimated that support amounted to about $10,000 per month.

Her parents described their relationship as on-again, off-again, according to police.

On April 27, they broke up after a fight over expenses, Guyvoronsky’s parents reported. She told her parents that McNeal had an “annoying tantrum” and tried to control her.

She reportedly wrote in a text message to her family: “He will be mad for one day, I’ll do silent treatment, Until he gets lonely and sad, Then he will be desperate to get me back, And will start blowing up my phone and love bombing, Presents, Extra extra nice things, We go through this, Like once a month.”

Guyvoronsky’s diary also included several entries appearing to refer to McNeal, according to police. In one, she wrote to herself to “make sure you do not forget how you felt.the anger, hurt, neglect.” In another, she called him “mentally, emotionally” abusive.

In a to-do list dated Monday, she wrote at the bottom, “Do not interact w/James today.”

Just before 4 p.m. Tuesday, three days after that break-up, McNeal’s attorney called 911 to report a “likely homicide” in Guyvoronsky’s south Seattle home. Officers found Guyvoronsky in her bed. It appeared she had been deceased “for some time,” according to a police report.

She did not appear to have any injuries that would have caused her to lose blood, police said.

An official cause of death had not been released as of Friday, according to court papers.

Police arrested McNeal at the scene. His attorney, Jan Olson, advised officers that McNeal wouldn’t talk to them. Olson didn’t respond to a request for comment Friday.

Senior deputy prosecutor Gretchen Holmgren requested a judge set McNeal’s bail at $3 million. He is set to be arraigned May 14.

McNeal, who lives in Bothell, served two terms on the City Council before losing his re-election bid in November. He worked in the construction industry for nearly three decades.

On Friday, he remained in jail in King County.

Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @GoldsteinStreet.