Florida authorities have charged a 53-year-old Marion County man with first-degree murder after the body of a British woman who travelled to the state seeking a "violent death" was discovered in a shallow grave last month. The case has drawn international attention for its intersection of online vulnerability, mental health decline and what investigators describe as coercion rather than consensual behaviour.
The victim, 32-year-old Sonia Exelby of Portsmouth, left the United Kingdom on Oct. 10 and flew to Gainesville, Fla., after months of deteriorating mental health. Her partner, Stevie, told reporters she had been "struggling deeply" and was in an "extremely vulnerable situation." Exelby failed to board her scheduled return flight on Oct. 13, prompting concern from friends and a welfare alert from U.K. police to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Investigators reviewing her digital devices later found that Exelby had previously attempted to arrange travel to the U.S. to be "sexually abused, tortured, and murdered" but had not been able to follow through. When her condition worsened this fall, she sought out similar contacts online, eventually connecting with Florida resident Dwain Hall. Authorities say that despite Exelby's documented statements about wanting to die, the evidence points to coercion, escalating threats and a homicide.
Hall acknowledged to police that he met Exelby at Gainesville Regional Airport and took her to an Airbnb in Reddick, where the two had sex multiple times. Detectives recovered a video Hall recorded at the property-a clip he attempted to delete-that investigators say contradicts any notion of a consensual encounter. The affidavit notes Exelby appeared bruised, subdued and visibly distressed, adding that she "rarely looks up," breathes heavily and hesitates before answering Hall's questions about her alleged wish to be killed.
The following day, Exelby sent a message to a friend on Discord suggesting she wanted to withdraw from the situation. In the message, she said Hall had signalled "there was no way out unless I shoot him," adding she "can't kill anyone" and that she had been "questioning it last night." Investigators cited the exchange as evidence that Exelby felt threatened, trapped and aware she had, in their words, "made a mistake."
On Oct. 17, FDLE agents located a shallow grave in a wooded area of Marion County. Forensic analysis confirmed the remains were Exelby's and that she had suffered up to four stab wounds. Physical evidence linked Hall to the burial site: a shovel label near the grave matched a shovel he purchased the day he picked up Exelby, and the shovel found in his garage tested positive for her DNA. A knife later mailed by Hall to a friend in Ohio also tested positive for blood, according to the affidavit.
Authorities allege Hall attempted to access Exelby's bank account several times after her death, activity that helped investigators narrow their search. Hall was arrested on Nov. 17 and booked into the Marion County Jail on charges including first-degree murder, kidnapping, credit card fraud and unlawful use of a communication device.
