A man is accused of planning to have alligators devour a British woman who had traveled to the United States with the intent of being harmed. Sonia Exelby, a 32-year-old woman from Portsmouth, made her way to Florida on October 10 and allegedly met Dwain Hall, a 53-year-old man who is said to have killed her after connecting on a fetish website. They then drove to an Airbnb in Reddick, located approximately 100 miles northwest of Orlando, where Hall reportedly filmed a video in which he coerced Sonia into agreeing to harm.

According to arrest documents reviewed by The Mirror, Sonia had left indications on her computer suggesting she was suicidal and had traveled to the US to be mistreated, tortured, and potentially killed. Sonia’s body was discovered in a shallow grave in a nearby woodland in Marion County on October 17. An autopsy revealed that she had been stabbed four times with a knife. Subsequently, a knife containing Sonia’s DNA was found in a package sent to a friend of Hall’s in Ohio.

Hall voluntarily presented himself at the Marion County Sheriff’s Office on the same day he allegedly tried to use Sonia’s credit card to withdraw $1,200 (£905.11). Initially, Hall denied meeting Sonia and claimed that a man had provided him with the card number over the phone for unspecified services. However, he later admitted to messaging Sonia about her alleged desire to have someone end her life.

Hall was charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, fraudulent credit card use, and unlawful transmission device use. He has entered a plea of not guilty and is scheduled to appear in court on December 23. A social media post from one of Sonia’s loved ones on October 16 described her as a “vulnerable person” who had flown from the UK to Florida.