Most Americans think the worst crimes happen in dark alleys or behind locked doors.
But the darkest crimes start on the internet where predators hunt for the most vulnerable victims they can find.
And one Discord message from a British woman just exposed what a Florida man was really planning all along.
Florida Man Lured Vulnerable Woman Into Nightmare Trap
Sonia Exelby landed at Gainesville Regional Airport on October 10 with a one-way ticket to hell.
The 32-year-old woman from Portsmouth, England suffered from severe mental health problems and had previously attempted to arrange her own death in 2024.¹
That first attempt was stopped by UK authorities who got her treatment instead.
This time nobody stopped her.
Dwain Hall, 53, picked Exelby up from the airport driving his roadside assistance company truck.²
Security footage shows Hall stopping at Walmart one hour before her flight landed.
He bought 50 feet of rope, paracord, a shovel, and gun cleaner.³
Hall drove Exelby to an Airbnb she'd rented in Reddick, Florida.
What happened inside that Airbnb over the next 36 hours was pure torture.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement recovered a deleted video from Hall's phone showing Exelby covered in bruises on her face, neck, and chest.⁴
Hall interrogated her on camera, asking if she was "being forced or coerced."
When Exelby shook her head no, Hall said "This is how you wanted to die, right? You wanted to be beaten and made to suffer because you're such a piece of s***" and forced Exelby to repeat his words.⁵
https://twitter.com/TrueCrimeUpdat/status/1991137219084460173?s=20
Investigators said Exelby appeared "subdued and terrified" throughout the recording.
Hall forced her to record three disclaimer videos claiming she wanted to die.
He made her write a letter to her family "because he thought it was funny."⁶
Woman's Discord Message Exposed Hall's Real Plan
Exelby managed to send one desperate message to a friend on Discord on October 11.
"He made it clear there was no way out unless I shoot him," she wrote.⁷
"I thought he'd do it quick and not give my mind time to stew."
But Hall didn't do anything quick.
He kept her locked in that Airbnb, torturing her while repeatedly trying to charge her debit card through his roadside assistance company.
Seven transactions were declined before one for $1,200 finally went through.⁸
"I'm locked in and there is no signal in the middle of nowhere," Exelby wrote to her friend.⁹ "I'm so so scared I'm so broken and in so much pain all I can do is lay here."
Hall drove to Lowe's and bought a plastic tarp.
Surveillance footage appears to show someone moving around in his front seat covered by the tarp.¹⁰
He then drove to a wooded area in Marion County where he spent about an hour digging.
On October 17, investigators found Exelby's remains in a shallow grave.
An autopsy revealed she'd been stabbed four times with a knife.¹¹
The manner of death was ruled homicide.
Hall's Story Collapsed Under Questioning
Hall initially told investigators he never met Exelby.
He claimed she tried to get roadside assistance but when her card declined, he never helped her.¹²
That lie lasted about five minutes.
Hall then admitted he'd been communicating with Exelby for two years on a fetish website where he used the screen name "alphasadist."
He described himself as her "mentor" who wanted to help her with her mental health problems.
Hall admitted they discussed "bondage, suicide, and her desire to have someone kill her."¹³
When detectives asked what message he'd give Exelby's family, Hall said "she's happy now because she got what she wanted."¹⁴
Hall also told investigators he "used to have violent tendencies."
Before his arrest, Hall mailed a package to a friend in Ohio with instructions to "hold onto it and not tell anyone."¹⁵
Inside the package was a Cold Steel 7-inch tanto knife engraved with "Dorkworf pointy end goes in the other guy."
The knife tested positive for Exelby's blood.
Hall called his wife from jail telling her to look out for a package from his friend in six months.
This Is Murder, Not Assisted Suicide
Here's what the media won't tell you about this case.
Florida law is crystal clear: "every person deliberately assisting another in the commission of self-murder shall be guilty of manslaughter."¹⁶
But Hall isn't charged with manslaughter.
He's charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping.
That's because assisted suicide requires the person to actually kill themselves.
When you hold the knife, mix the poison, or pull the trigger, you're not assisting suicide anymore.¹⁷
You're committing murder.
Hall bought the rope and shovel before Exelby even landed in Florida.
He tortured her for days while stealing money from her bank account.
He forced her to make videos "consenting" to her death while she was clearly terrified.
Then he stabbed her four times and buried her in the woods.
That's premeditated murder with kidnapping and torture thrown in for good measure.
The fact that Exelby suffered from mental illness and expressed suicidal thoughts doesn't change what Hall did.
Predators like Hall troll the internet looking for vulnerable people they can exploit.
They pose as "mentors" or claim they're helping when they're really just hunting for victims nobody will miss.
UK authorities told Florida investigators there was a previous documented incident in 2024 where Exelby tried to travel to the United States to meet people who would "kill her violently."¹⁸
That attempt was thwarted and Exelby received treatment.
But Hall succeeded where others failed because he knew exactly how to manipulate someone in crisis.
The videos he forced Exelby to make were designed to protect him from prosecution.
Investigators said Hall created those recordings "in an effort to protect himself from the consequences of kidnapping and murdering" Exelby.¹⁹
Hall is being held without bond in Marion County Jail.
He faces life in prison if convicted on the murder charge.
Florida doesn't play games with people who torture and kill vulnerable victims.
Hall thought he could hide behind Exelby's mental illness and claim he was just helping her die.
But that Discord message proved what Hall was really doing all along.
He wasn't helping anyone.
He was hunting.
¹ WFTV, "Report: British woman agreed to pay Ocala man to murder her," November 19, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Law&Crime, "'I thought he'd do it quick': Woman flew from UK to Florida 'to be tortured and murdered,' police say," November 19, 2025.
⁴ WFLA, "UK woman traveled to Florida to be murdered, court documents say," November 19, 2025.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ Law&Crime, "'I thought he'd do it quick': Woman flew from UK to Florida 'to be tortured and murdered,' police say," November 19, 2025.
⁷ Ibid.
⁸ WFTV, "Report: British woman agreed to pay Ocala man to murder her," November 19, 2025.
⁹ Law&Crime, "'I thought he'd do it quick': Woman flew from UK to Florida 'to be tortured and murdered,' police say," November 19, 2025.
¹⁰ FOX 35 Orlando, "Ocala man arrested after UK woman allegedly pays him to torture, kill her," November 19, 2025.
¹¹ WFLA, "UK woman traveled to Florida to be murdered, court documents say," November 19, 2025.
¹² WFTV, "Report: British woman agreed to pay Ocala man to murder her," November 19, 2025.
¹³ Ibid.
¹⁴ WESH, "Missing UK woman's remains found in Marion County; Ocala man arrested on murder charge," November 18, 2025.
¹⁵ Law&Crime, "'I thought he'd do it quick': Woman flew from UK to Florida 'to be tortured and murdered,' police say," November 19, 2025.
¹⁶ Wikipedia, "Assisted suicide in the United States," accessed November 19, 2025.
¹⁷ Cambridge Core, "Speech and Suicide—The Line of Legality," American Journal of Law & Medicine, April 2, 2024.
¹⁸ WFTV, "Report: British woman agreed to pay Ocala man to murder her," November 19, 2025.
¹⁹ WESH, "Missing UK woman's remains found in Marion County; Ocala man arrested on murder charge," November 18, 2025.
