Inset: Dwain C. Hall (Marion County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The area in Florida where he allegedly tortured and killed a woman from the UK (Google Maps).
A disturbing case has emerged involving a 53-year-old Florida man accused of murdering a 32-year-old British woman who traveled to the United States as part of a sinister plot entwined with online fetish activities, financial manipulation, and coercive control.
Dwain C. Hall has been charged with several felonies, including first-degree murder, kidnapping, and credit card fraud, in connection with the death of Sonia Exelby last month, according to court documents.
Documents reveal Hall allegedly murdered Sonia Exelby, who hailed from Portsmouth, England. She had a known history of mental health issues and had traveled to the U.S. on October 10 after engaging with Hall on a fetish website, where he used the alias “alphasadist.” Although Hall initially described himself as a “mentor” to Exelby, authorities found evidence suggesting she was forcibly detained, tortured, and ultimately stabbed to death.
The investigation was initiated on October 13 when UK authorities alerted the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) after Exelby failed to catch her flight back home. Officials noted that she had previously attempted to visit the U.S. in 2024 with the intention of meeting people online who would “kill her violently,” a trip that was fortunately prevented.
Further inquiries revealed data on Exelby’s computer indicating her desires for “sexual abuse, torture, and murder by unknown U.S. residents.”
Exelby and Hall had been discussing themes of bondage and suicide online for two years, according to investigators. Although Hall claimed their plans for her visit to Florida were consensual, evidence collected both digitally and physically disputes his narrative.
On Oct. 10, just an hour before Exelby’s flight landed at the Gainesville Regional Airport, surveillance footage captured Hall at a local Walmart. He purchased a shovel, 50 feet of rope, a paracord, and gun cleaner. Hall then picked Exelby up from the airport and drove her to an Airbnb in Reddick, Florida, which she had rented.
Financial records show that on Oct. 11, Hall attempted to charge Exelby’s debit card seven times through his business, Solver Wolf’s Roadside Assistance. After multiple declines, a transfer of $1,200 was successfully made to Hall’s account.
Hall claimed Exelby wanted to die, but digital evidence recovered by police paints a chaotic scene inside the Airbnb.
On Oct. 11, Exelby sent a disjointed message to a friend on Discord, claiming Hall was “so bad” and kept taking her phone before stating, “He made it clear there was no way out unless I shoot him…I can’t kill anyone.”
“I’m locked in and there is no signal in the middle of nowhere,” she wrote. “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 about to use it and where to aim it.”
She ended the message to her friend by saying the person holding her captive forced her to record “three disclaimer videos” and write a letter to her family “because he thought it was funny.”
“I’m so so scared I’m so broken and in so much pain all I can do is lay here and doing what [he] wants makes him respect me enough not to do the things I really hate,” she allegedly wrote. “I’m sorry I don’t even know what I’m saying and I’m trying to be quick and My times up”.
Investigators said they also recovered a deleted video from Hall’s phone from Oct. 11, showing Exelby disheveled, with visible bruises on her face, neck, and breasts. In the footage, Hall interrogates Exelby, asking if she is “being forced or coerced.” When she shakes her head no, Hall says, “You wanted to be beaten and made to suffer because you’re such a piece of s—.” He then orders her to repeat the phrase.
Investigators emphasized that throughout the video, Exelby appeared subdued and terrified.
Hall, who was already in custody on an unrelated fraud charge, was eventually connected to Exelby’s disappearance. When questioned by detectives, he allegedly made multiple suspicious statements, including asking, “If you end a person’s life, isn’t that murder?”
When asked what, if anything, he would say to Exelby’s family, Hall allegedly provided a chilling answer.
“Hall responds that he would tell them that the last time he saw her she was happy because she was going to get what she wanted,” the affidavit says. “Hall claimed responsibility for Exelby being in a good place for the past few weeks because he helped her change her daily life.”
Authorities later learned that Hall had sent a package to a man in Ohio, instructing him to “hold onto it and not tell anyone.” During a search of that man’s home, police recovered a knife that they said tested positive for blood.
“The blood belonged to Exelby,” the affidavit states.
Hall is currently being held without bond. It was not immediately clear when he was scheduled to appear in court.
