Warning: This article contains details which some readers may find distressing.
Relatives of Sonia Exelby believe she travelled to the US after being ‘groomed’ on a fetish website, according to a new report from The Times.
The body of 32-year-old Exelby was discovered in a shallow grave in Marion County, Florida, last October after she flew out to the US from her home in Portsmouth, UK. Investigators later confirmed that she had died after being stabbed four times.
It’s alleged that Exelby had travelled to the US to meet Dwain Hall, a 54-year-old man she had been communicating with through a fetish website, and paid him to end her life.
Hall was later arrested and charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping. He was previously arrested on suspicion of fraudulent use of credit cards and unlawful use of a two-way communication device in relation to Exelby.
READ MORE: Timeline of events leading up to the death of Sonia Exelby
Sonia Exelby died after travelling to the USA (Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary)
He has pleaded not guilty and will stand trial on 16 November.
Sonia Exelby had been groomed for ‘two years’ before travelling to the US
Ahead of Hall’s trial, relatives of Exelby have spoken to The Times about the case, alleging that the music tutor had been groomed by Hall two years prior to flying out to Florida.
“She was saying she had to protect others by gathering evidence and talking with them,” claimed her brother Barry Wilton.
“She had a purpose to stop this from happening to others. She told us she lost friends [this way] — she wanted to shine awareness on what was happening to people.”
Wilton, alongside Exelby’s other siblings, Gemma Isaj and Luke Wilton, also claimed that Exelby had sent messages asking for help after arriving in the US.
The family’s claims contradict information released during the early investigation, which suggested that Exelby had ‘left evidence on her computer indicating that she was again suicidal and travelling to the United States’
Dwain Hall denies killing her (Florida Department of Law Enforcement)
Family fundraises to attend trial
The family have since started a GoFundMe in hopes of raising money to travel to the US for the trial, explaining that the costs of attending the trial are beyond ‘what our family can comfortably manage’.
“We are asking for help to allow Sonia’s family to be together during one of the most difficult and distressing experiences we will ever have to face,” Isaj wrote on the fundraiser page.
“We want to stand together for Sonia. We want to support each other when the trial takes place, and we want to make sure that as many of her closest family members as possible have the opportunity to be there.”
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