SEATTLE— Investigators from the Seattle Police Department (SPD) could be seen going through the home of James McNeal, a former member of the Bothell City Council, who was charged with second-degree murder on Friday.
A SWAT unit arrived on Friday morning at the two-story home in the 16000 block of Valhalla Drive in Bothell before other investigators began executing a search warrant.
McNeal, 58, is being held in jail on $3 million bail in connection with the apparent strangling of a 20-year-old woman inside her town house in south Seattle earlier this week. He did not appear in court on Friday afternoon when prosecutors filed the murder charge, but is due back on May 14 for an arraignment.
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McNeal was elected to the Bothell City Council in November 2015 and served for two terms. He lost in a race against incumbent Mason Thompson and his term ended in December.
While in office, McNeal helped establish OneBothell, a citizens group formed to prevent the development of the former Wayne Golf Course, which was going to be converted into townhomes. The greenspace was instead sold to a conservation group to be preserved.
The homicide was discovered on Tuesday when McNeal’s attorney called 911 to ask for a law enforcement presence at a home in the 4600 block of South Orchard Street. Police arrived at the scene to find McNeal with both “fresh and dry blood” on his clothes.
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In an upstairs bedroom, officers found a deceased woman with marks on her neck, jaw and forehead, lying on the bed naked, according to court documents. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office will determine the official cause and manner of death, but authorities suspected asphyxia. Investigators believe she had been dead for about 24 hours.
The deceased was identified in a police report as Liliya Guyvoronsky, of Seattle. She worked as a stripper, which is how McNeal first met her. The two began a dating relationship that lasted over several months.
McNeal worked in the construction industry as a home builder and served on a variety of regional boards.
Neighbors said that last summer, McNeal separated from his wife, with whom he has two children.
