A Florida man has been accused of sexually abusing, torturing and murdering a suicidal woman who traveled from the United Kingdom seeking a violent death.
Shelby Exelby, 32, was reported missing by loved ones in Portsmouth, UK, after she failed to board her return flight out of Gainesville Regional Airport on October 13.
UK authorities contacted the Florida Department of Law Enforcement alleging that Exelby was suicidal and had plans to meet someone that would violently kill her, according to WCJB.
Her body was found in a shallow grave days later.
Investigators were able to link Exelby to a Florida man named Dwain Hall using transactions made on her credit cards.
Hall was arrested on charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping, credit card fraud, and unlawful use of a communication device on November 17.
Police allege the 53-year-old had picked her up from the airport and taken her to an Airbnb in Marion County.
Surveillance photos showed that Hall bought a gun cleaner, rope, and shovel shortly before Exelby’s death, according to Fox 35.
Hall ultimately told investigators he met Exelby on a fetish website two years prior. He said Exelby told him she was suicidal and wanted to be killed.
He claimed he wanted to help the woman but also admitted to having violent tendencies.
At the Airbnb, Hall claimed that they slept together multiple times.
Authorities recovered a deleted video on Hall’s device which reportedly showed Exelby bruised and disheveled. Hall asked the woman why she was there.
Investigators claimed Exelby responded, ‘Because I’m an awful person. I’ve crushed everyone who ever loves me.’
Police said Hall continued try and get her consent to harm her. They described her as ‘hesitant’ although she nodded her head.
Police later found that Exelby messaged a friend on Discord second-guessing her decision.
‘He made it clear there was no way out unless I shoot him,’ she allegedly wrote. ‘I was questioning it last night… I thought he’d do it quick and not give my mind time to stew.’
Her boyfriend Stevie Hunt took to social media and made a desperate plea for his lost love.
‘It pains me to write this, I never thought I’d be writing this. The love of my life Sonia Exelby is missing,’ he wrote.
‘She’s struggling deeply right now with her mental health and we are terrified for her safety.’
Exelby’s body was found on October 17 in a shallow grave in Marion Oaks. An autopsy confirmed that she died as a result of four stab wounds.
Next to the abandoned corpse was a label for a shovel that matched the one Hall had purchased earlier.
Hall mailed a knife to a friend in Ohio shortly after Exelby’s death.
After searching the friend’s home, police confirmed that the weapon tested positive for blood and may contain Exelby’s DNA, per WCJB.
Hall is being held in Marion County with no bond.
FDLE Commissioner Mark Glass said of the arrest: ‘Our agents worked with extraordinary speed and unwavering determination to ensure justice was served and closure was brought to the victim’s family.
‘This type of violent crime and disregard for human life will not be tolerated in our state – those who commit such heinous crimes will be held fully accountable.’
The Daily Mail reached out to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for comment.
