Montana Man Gets 25 to 54 Years in Woman’s Death

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A Montana man faces 25 to 54 years in prison for killing his former girlfriend at her Boise apartment last year and setting a fire to try to cover up the evidence.

The Idaho Statesman reports 32-year-old Lloyd Hardin McNeil of Bozeman, Mont., was sentenced Monday for voluntary manslaughter the March 2011 death of 30-year-old Natalie Davis. He also was sentenced for arson and grand theft.

Prosecutors said McNeil and Davis had a tumultuous relationship that turned fatal when McNeil suffocated her, soaked her mattress in vegetable oil and set it on fire. Prosecutors said he then took her car, dogs and some jewelry and left town.

After Davis' death, a charge that McNeil assaulted her in Gallatin County, Mont., in July 2010 was dismissed.