Sonia Exelby travelled to the United States last year and allegedly suffered a violent death at the hands of a man she met on a fetish website. Her family have paid tribute to “a truly beautiful person”.
Exelby, 32, died in the US on October 17 last year after travelling from Portsmouth to Florida to meet a 54-year-old pagan worshipper she had been communicating with for two years. Dwain Hall is accused of stabbing Exelby to death and dumping her body in woodland after filming her describing how she wished to be killed.
Family tribute
In a statement, her family said: “Sonia was a truly beautiful person, inside and out. She had the gentlest soul - so gentle that she chose to become vegan, because she couldn’t bear the thought of any animal suffering just so she could eat. That was who she was: kind, compassionate, and full of quiet love.”
They added: “She was incredibly talented. Sonia could play the piano so effortlessly, and when she sang, she had the voice of an angel. Being around her felt special—she brought a calmness and warmth that made everything feel a little lighter. Sonia was one of those rare people who made you feel completely safe to be yourself. She never judged, never criticised - she simply accepted people as they were and loved them for it. That is something so many of us will carry with us forever.”
Background and evidence
Exelby is understood to have created an account on Motherless.com, a hardcore fetish pornography website that was closed down by Dutch authorities earlier this year. The Telegraph reports that Exelby had discussed the site and its sadistic use by men to lure women into harm or even death with her sisters, vowing to travel and confront those exploiting vulnerable users.
Her family were unaware that she had been sharing violent and suicidal fantasies with others on the site and had developed a close relationship with Hall. Detectives later found evidence on her computer that indicated she was “suicidal and travelling to the US to be possibly sexually abused, tortured and murdered by unknown individuals”.
Footage and messages
In footage filmed by Hall, in what prosecutors allege was an attempt to avoid accountability for the murder, Exelby could be seen “looking dishevelled”, with bruises on several parts of her body. When asked why she wanted to die, Exelby can be heard saying: “Because I am an awful person,” before adding “I've crushed everyone who ever loves me.” After initial reluctance, she goes on to say that she wished to be killed by being stabbed.
Messages sent by Exelby in her final moments on Discord show her expressing doubts to friends as she describes how Hall had shown her how to use a gun. She said: “He made it clear there was no way out unless I shoot him. I was questioning it last night,” Exelby wrote to her friend on Discord. “I thought he’d do it quick and not give my mind time to stew and realize this is the last thing I’ll ever day to anyone if I don’t take his offer of shooting him. I’m so so scared I’m so broken and in so much pain all I can do is lay here and doing what gee wants makes him respect me enough not to do the things I really hate.”
Arrest and trial
Hall was subsequently arrested on charges of first-degree murder and kidnapping by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). He had already been detained over the alleged fraudulent use of Exelby’s credit cards. He is expected to face trial in November.
