The boyfriend of a woman who allegedly paid someone to torture and kill her said that she had been suffering from mental illness before the shocking events, according to Florida authorities.
Sonia Exelby was reported missing in October before police were able to trace her to an Airbnb in Reddick and found her remains nearby.
‘I’m so, so scared. I’m so broken and in so much pain. … I thought he’d do it quick and not give my mind time to stew.’
Exelby boarded a flight to Florida and arrived on Oct. 10, according to an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The FDLE said that Exelby posted on a fetish website that she was willing to pay someone to torture and kill her.
A week after she arrived in Florida, her remains were found in a shallow grave.
Investigators linked her to a man named Dwain Hall, who had used her bank card and tried to use her credit cards.
When they interviewed him, he gave conflicting accounts of how they met.
Police said they gathered evidence pointing to Hall as Exelby’s alleged killer.
Authorities said Hall purchased rope and gun cleaner among other items at a Walmart in Gainesville on Oct. 10. After that purchase, he made a second purchase of a shovel. He then allegedly went to pick up Exelby at the airport, and they both went to an Airbnb that he had rented.
The next day, he charged $1,200 to Exelby’s bank card.
Authorities said he recorded a video of Exelby showing her with cuts and bruises, and asking her to say that she consented to being stabbed.
Exelby sent a message to a friend via the Discord app expressing regret.
“I’m so, so scared. I’m so broken and in so much pain. … I thought he’d do it quick and not give my mind time to stew,” she wrote.
On Oct. 14, Hall allegedly sent a package to a friend that authorities said contained a knife that had traces of Exelby’s blood. It also had a bracelet with DNA from both Exelby and Hall.
Police also said the shovel Hall purchased matched the one they found at Exelby’s grave site.
Hall was initially arrested for fraud in relation to his alleged use of Exelby’s financial cards, but those charges were dropped when he was charged with kidnapping and first-degree murder.
U.K. law enforcement said that Exelby sought someone to kill her in 2024, but she obtained mental health treatment instead after the attempt was thwarted.
Hall allegedly told police he was upset because she promised to pay him $4K, but he only received $1.2K.
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Sonia exelby, Woman pays to be tortured, Woman pays to be killed, Dwain hall arrest, Crime