A man is accused of planning to feed a British woman to alligators in the US after she reportedly traveled there to be harmed. Sonia Exelby, a 32-year-old from Portsmouth, arrived in Florida on October 10 and allegedly met Dwain Hall, 53, through a fetish website. They then drove to an Airbnb in Reddick, where Hall is accused of coercing Sonia to agree to harm in a recorded video.
According to arrest documents, Sonia left evidence on her computer indicating suicidal intentions and a desire to be abused, tortured, or possibly killed in the US. Her remains were discovered in a shallow grave in a woodland area in Marion County on October 17, showing she had been stabbed four times with a knife. A knife with Sonia’s DNA was found in a package sent to a friend of Hall in Ohio.
Hall turned himself in to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office on the same day Sonia’s remains were found, following an attempt to use her credit card. Initially denying meeting Sonia, Hall later admitted to messaging her about her alleged wish to be killed. He revealed that he would have taken her to a place with dangerous wildlife where she could have met a violent end.
Charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, fraudulent credit card use, and unlawful transmission device use, Hall has pleaded not guilty. He is scheduled to appear in court on December 23. A social media post from one of Sonia’s loved ones described her as vulnerable and revealed her journey from the UK to Florida.
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