Sonia Exelby, 32, was found dead in a shallow grave just a week after she flew to Florida Police in the United States are attempting to piece together the final moments of a British woman who allegedly flew to Florida asking to be killed by a man she met on a fetish website. Sonia Exelby’s body was found in a shallow grave on October 17, just one week after she flew across the Atlantic on October 10. Concerns were raised when the 32-year-old didn’t board her return flight home three days later. However, it has since emerged that what appeared to be a tragic murder may have been something entirely more complicated. The disturbing story begins in 2023 when Sonia who pals say battled mental health struggles allegedly began communicating with a man on a fetish website. The exchanges are said to have progressed from discussions about bondage and suicide to Sonia expressing a wish to have someone from the site end her life. Authorities claim that person was American man Dwaine Hall, 53, and that last month, Sonia travelled Stateside to be violently killed by him. followers that Sonia had entered “into an extremely vulnerable situation”. They wrote: “Sonia is such a vulnerable person and really struggling with her mental health. We believe she got on a plane on Friday and made her way to Tallahassee, Florida, from the UK. We believe she has arranged to meet someone there and has got herself into an extremely vulnerable situation. That’s all I can really say on that,” reports the Mirror. Following the discovery of her body in a shallow woodland grave in Marion County, northwest of Orlando, an autopsy revealed that Sonia had been stabbed four times with a knife. Hall was arrested after being linked to transactions allegedly made using Sonia’s credit cards. It is claimed he picked Sonia up from the airport and drove her to an Airbnb cabin in Reddick. Hall faces charges of kidnapping and first-degree murder, both of which he denies. An affidavit a legal document used as evidence in US court proceedings stated that Hall initially denied knowing Sonia before reportedly admitting to collecting her from the airport and driving her to an Airbnb. Other records obtained by Fox32 include licence plate readers that detected Hall’s vehicle at Gainesville airport around the time Sonia arrived. Arrest documents revealed that Sonia “left evidence on her computer indicating she was suicidal and travelling to the United States to be sexually abused, tortured and possibly murdered.” It is alleged that during a police interview, Hall admitted that he and Sonia, from Southsea in Portsmouth, Hampshire, “discussed bondage, suicide, and her desire to have someone kill her.” Hall was arrested on October 17 after he allegedly tried to withdraw $1,200 (£918) using Sonia’s bank cards. When questioned about Sonia, he reportedly told officers he was the last person to see her alive and said he would assist her. Hall, who has reportedly confessed to having violent tendencies, alleged that Sonia was suicidal and desired to be killed. As per the affidavit viewed by PEOPLE, she penned in a suicide note that if she “managed to get to him”, she would be “mutilated and disabled for the rest of my life”. Hall reportedly portrayed himself as a mentor who would assist rather than harm the troubled woman. The affidavit reveals that Hall stated if he was compelled to aid Sonia in her death, he would take her to Alligator Alley, where the wildlife “would have taken care of her.” When questioned if he had murdered Sonia, Hall declined to respond, but claimed “she’s happy now because she got what she wanted.” Now, a chilling account of her final days has been assembled. Hall allegedly asserted that he and Sonia had sex on multiple occasions, characterising it as ‘vanilla’ to the police. The Daily Mail reports that it was Sonia’s idea, not his, as he didn’t want to engage in sexual activity with her due to feelings of guilt about his wife, Ginger Stein, according to an arrest affidavit. Social media posts indicate that he and Ginger have been a couple since 2014, and they have reportedly been spotted with two children. In Instagram posts, Ginger is seen with a breathing tube, and Hall reportedly told the police that when she fell ill in August this year, his previous violent tendencies ‘went away’. However, his jail intake form apparently shows that he is legally single, although he referred to Stein as his wife during the police interview. Bank records and CCTV footage allegedly show Hall arriving at a Walmart on 10 October, where he purchased gun cleaner, rope and Lume spray. Shortly afterwards, he returned to the same shop to buy a shovel. At this point, it’s believed Sonia was still alive. Police-obtained footage allegedly shows Hall attempting to secure her recorded consent. The video reportedly depicts Sonia, covered in bruises, as Hall questions her presence and asks how she would prefer to die. She responds that she wants to be stabbed. Detectives, observing Sonia’s behaviour in the video, noted that she seemed hesitant and visibly distressed. Tragically, it seems Sonia had second thoughts about the twisted plot but couldn’t find an escape route. “I’m sorry he keeps taking my phone, he doesn’t trust me with it. He made it clear there was no way out unless I shoot him. I was questioning it last night,” one message reportedly read. Adding that the previous night had been ‘so bad’, she is alleged to have written: “I can’t kill anyone. He’s in the shower but I’m locked in and there is no signal in the middle of nowhere. I thought he’d do it quick and not give my mind time to stew and realise this is the last thing I’ll ever say to anyone if I don’t take his offer of shooting him. He showed me how to use it and where to aim.” The final messages reportedly read: ‘I’m so scared I’m so broken and in so much pain all I can do is lay here and doing what gee wants. Makes him respect me enough not to do the things I really hate. Everything but some are. I’m sorry I don’t even know what I’m saying and I’m trying to be quick and my times up.” Hall, who police say altered his account multiple times, allegedly claimed Sonia had pledged to give him $4,000 (£3, 000) to help settle his IRS debt, but he became irate when she arrived in the US without the money. He withdrew £900 from her UK bank account. He forced her to record three disclaimer messages and pen a letter to her family because he found it ‘funny,'” according to the affidavit. Investigators have stated that the messages “showed that Hall was controlling her, that she was afraid, and had made a mistake.” Investigators discovered that, following Sonia’s death, Hall sent a parcel to a mate in Ohio, where authorities found a seven-inch Tanto blade with Sonia’s blood on it. A shovel located in Hall’s garage also bore traces of Sonia’s DNA. During his initial court appearance on Monday (November 17), Fox 35 Orlando reports, Judge Laurie Cotton told Hall: “Under these circumstances, there is no bond that would assure your presence in court, keep the community safe. And the facts of this case there is a large amount of evidence against you.”.
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/british-woman-flew-america-killed-36285568
‘Death pact’ Brit woman’s final moments – ‘sex, beatings and change of mind’
