American denies murdering Brit woman who flew to US to be tortured and killed

Dwain Hall, 54, pleaded not guilty to the first-degree murder and kidnapping of Sonia Exelby, 32, from Portsmouth, whose body was found in a shallow grave in Florida after she failed to board a return flight to London

A Florida man accused of murdering a woman he encountered on a fetish website is set to stand trial later this year.

Dwight Hall, 54, pleaded not guilty to the first-degree murder and kidnapping of British woman Sonia Exelby, 32, who travelled to the US from her home in Portsmouth in October last year. Court documents seen by the Mirror revealed that Sonia had made the trip to Florida “to be possibly sexually abused, tortured and murdered”.

A post-mortem examination established that Sonia died as a result of four stab wounds, with her body subsequently discovered in a shallow grave. Hall initially denied any knowledge of or contact with Sonia, but later told investigators the pair had been intimate, according to documents.

Hall made a brief court appearance on Wednesday, during which a judge set out the timeline for proceedings. Jury selection for his trial is scheduled to commence on November 16.

The case will be heard in Marion County, Florida, and is anticipated to last approximately one week, reports the Mirror.

Sonia’s body was uncovered in a shallow grave in woodland after she failed to board a return flight to London on October 13. Those close to her said Sonia had battled mental health difficulties and may have been in a “vulnerable” state when she allegedly began communicating with a man she had met on a fetish website.

Their exchanges allegedly progressed from discussions of bondage and suicide to Sonia voicing a wish to be killed. An affidavit stated that if Hall had been compelled to assist in her death, he would have taken her to Alligator Alley, where wildlife “would have taken care of her.”

When quizzed over whether he had killed Sonia, Hall declined to respond but reportedly stated “she’s happy now because she got what she wanted.” It emerged that Sonia may have had second thoughts about the plot but felt trapped with no means of escape.

Detectives uncovered messages Sonia had sent to a friend through the online messaging platform Discord, dated 11 October, the day after she touched down in the US. Sonia said: “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.”