Mia Williams
Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide and sexual assault which some readers may find distressing.
Officials have issued an update after a British woman was allegedly abused and murdered by a man she met on a fetish website, after she allegedly expressed a 'desire to have someone kill her'.
Dwain Hall, 54, from Florida, allegedly 'sexually abused, tortured and murdered' young British woman Sonia Exelby, 32. He has pleaded not guilty to several charges, including first-degree murder and kidnapping.
Exelby arrived in the US from her home in Portsmouth in October last year, after it was alleged that she had been communicating with Hall about a number of disturbing topics online.
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But it was when the 'vulnerable' woman failed to arrive for her return flight to London on October 13, that police found her remains in a 'shallow grave'.
Police reported that an autopsy of her body showed she had been stabbed four times, after allegedly expressing a desire to be killed by someone over the online fetish platform.
It's been proposed that Exelby and Hall had communicated with one another for approximately two years, before the young woman purchased a plane ticket to visit the man in the US.
Hall's alleged profile name on the website was 'alpha sadist' - a term often used to describe a dominant individual who finds pleasure in inflicting emotional or physical pain on others.
Police documents reveal that Hall confessed to discussing 'bondage, suicide and her desire to have someone kill her' during their virtual conversations, which spanned over two years.
Although he initially denied ever knowing or meeting Exelby, he later admitted to officers that they had engaged in sexual intercourse.
He allegedly told officers he 'did grab Exelby around the throat for ‘light bondage’ but offered that he did not use any ropes'.
Hall went on to describe their sex as 'vanilla'.
Hall's trial is scheduled to begin on November 16, in Marion County, Florida, and is expected to last for a week.
Exelby's family members noted that the young woman had struggled with her mental health in recent years, and found herself in a potentially 'vulnerable' state when she flew over to the US to allegedly meet Hall.
When prosecutors asked Hall if he had killed the British woman, he reportedly responded: "She's happy now because she got what she wanted."
Investigators retrieved messages that Exelby had sent to a friend on October 11, the day after she arrived in America.
She allegedly wrote: "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."
If you or someone you know is struggling or in a mental health crisis, help is available through Mental Health America. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. You can also reach the Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741.
If you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). The Helpline is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.