A Florida man is behind bars awaiting trial on first-degree murder and kidnapping charges after authorities say he killed a young British woman who flew to the United States as part of an alleged plan for her to be tortured and killed. Dwain Hall, 54, of Ocala, was arrested in October 2025 in connection with the death of Sonia Exelby, a resident of Portsmouth, England, according to court records and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Exelby was reported missing by her family after she failed to return home from a trip to the United States. Days later, investigators found her body in a shallow grave in a wooded area of Marion County. Hall's trial is scheduled for Nov. 5 in Marion County, where he faces charges of premeditated first-degree murder and kidnapping.
Court records show that Hall and Exelby met in 2023 on a fetish website, where they discussed «bondage, suicide, and her desire to have someone kill her». Hall, who described himself as a sadist, allegedly began what he called a process of «mentoring» Exelby, investigators said. A Facebook page attributed to Hall suggests an interest in Anubis, the Egyptian god of the underworld.
In the year before her death, their online conversations showed that Exelby offered to help Hall with money he owed to the Internal Revenue Service. Investigators said the two allegedly agreed she would pay him $4,000 in cash to settle the debt in exchange for his help achieving «what she wanted». They also came up with a cover story to tell family members and, potentially, law enforcement.
The trip was not her first attempt to arrange her own death, according to the records. Authorities in the United Kingdom stopped a 2024 attempt by Exelby to travel to meet online individuals who would be willing to kill her violently. Investigators noted that she had known mental health diagnoses. Before the Florida trip, court records show, she left evidence on her computer indicating that she was again suicidal and traveling to the United States to be possibly sexually abused, tortured, and murdered by unknown individuals living in the country.
Exelby flew into Gainesville Regional Airport on the evening of Oct. 10, 2025, with a return flight scheduled for Oct. 13. Investigators said Hall picked her up and drove about 40 minutes south to an Airbnb in Reddick, Florida, that she had reserved in her name. Before meeting her at the airport, Hall bought gun cleaner, 50 feet of rope, Lume spray deodorant, and sturdy nylon parachute cord at a Gainesville Walmart, according to receipts and surveillance video reviewed by investigators. After paying for those items, he went back into the store for a shovel.
The next day, Oct. 11, Exelby sent long and at times disjointed messages to a friend through Discord, investigators said. She wrote that «last night was so bad» and that Hall had her «locked in» and had taken her phone because «he doesn't trust me with it». She described being in an area with poor cellphone signal «in the middle of nowhere» and expressed regret about the situation. «I thought he'd do it quick and not give my mind time to stew,» she wrote, adding that she believed it would be her last communication «if I don't take his offer of shooting him.» According to investigators, she also said the man had made her record three disclaimer videos and write a letter to her family because he thought it was «funny.» In one message, she wrote: «I'm so so scared I'm so broken and in so much pain all I can do is lay here.»
On the same day, Hall's bank account for his roadside assistance business charged Exelby's debit card seven times within roughly 10 minutes, according to court records. The charges helped lead investigators to Hall after Exelby did not show up for her Oct. 13 return flight and was reported missing.
On Oct. 17, law enforcement found Exelby's body buried in a shallow grave in a wooded area of Marion County. Court records say four stab wounds were found on the side of her body. Investigators also found the label for the shovel Hall had bought at Walmart in the top layers of dirt. Hall was spotted by sheriff's deputies the same day and pulled over while driving his black Jeep Cherokee on Interstate 75 in the Ocala area.
Before his arrest, investigators said, Hall messaged a friend on Facebook about a package he was sending that contained «precious and valuable personal items.» «Will need this back in 6 months if this storm passes over with no lingering fallout,» he allegedly wrote. «Please for the love of shadows don't lose this box.» Investigators later recovered the package.
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
