MARION COUNTY, Fla. — New documents reveal a British woman agreed to pay a Marion County man thousands of dollars to murder her!
Investigators say the victim, Sonia Exelby, traveled from her home in England to Gainesville, Florida. She then met the man FDLE says is her suspected murderer, Dwain Hall. Investigators say he took her to an AirBnB where he beat her. Her remains were later found in a wooded area of the Marion Oaks community on October 13th.
FDLE found multiple attempted charges to Sonia Exelby’s card from Solver Wolf’s Roadside Assistance. Dwain Hall is the company’s owner and sole employee.
Hall originally told investigators he never met her. He claimed Exelby tried to get roadside assistance, but when her card didn’t go through, he never helped her.
But shortly after, investigators say his story began to unravel.
Hall told investigators he met her online two years ago on what he described as a fetish site. He said he had a “mentor type relationship,” but he also said they discussed “bondage, suicide and her desire to have someone kill her.”
He says he knew Exelby suffered from severe mental illness and wanted to help her. But investigators say instead, he tortured her for days and then murdered her.
Investigators say they searched Exelby’s AirBnB in Marion County and found Walmart receipts in the trash for October 10 for rope, gun cleaner and a shovel. All purchases were made on hall’s card.
Investigators say surveillance video shows hall bought these items before he picked Sonia Exelby from the Gainesville airport.
Investigators found messages Exelby is believed to have sent her friend on a gaming app while in Central Florida. In one message, she writes, “I thought he’d do it quick and not give my mind time to stew.” She later wrote, “I’m so scared I’m so broken and in so much pain…” She told her friend that Hall told her the only way she would leave is she shoots him.
FDLE says it shows “Hall was controlling her, that she was afraid and made a mistake.”
FDLE says Hall’s phone records took them to the a wooded area in Marion County off SW 30th Terrace where they found a grave and later remains belonging to Exelby.
According to the report, United Kingdom and International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) authorities told FDLE there was a previous documented police incident in 2024 where Exelby was suicidal and planned to travel to the United States where people she met online would be willing to kill her violently. But that time, the attempt was thwarted and Exelby received treatment.
However, she went through with the plan this October, investigators say.
Hall is charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping.
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