A former pizza delivery driver accused of murdering a British music tutor had photos of women being impaled on his phone, court documents have revealed.
Dwain Hall, a 54-year-old married roadside mechanic from Florida, is awaiting trial for the kidnap and murder of Sonia Exelby, a 32-year-old talented musician from Southsea, Portsmouth.
Prosecutors claim that Hall, a pagan worshipper, groomed a suicidal Ms Exelby into travelling 4,000 miles to Florida, where she agreed to pay $4,000 (£3,000) for her own torture and death.
Ms Exelby's body was found in a shallow grave on October 17 2025, six days after meeting Hall in an isolated Airbnb cabin in the woods near Ocala, Marion County.
Hall was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder and kidnapping and will go on trial on November 16. He had already been arrested on suspicion of fraudulent use of credit cards and unlawful use of a two-way communication device linked to Ms Exelby.
Documents submitted to Marion County Court by prosecutor Richard Buxman state that Hall possessed 'sexually violent images depicting the rape, torture and/or murder of women.'
The court heard how the images were recovered from websites Hall had visited by digital forensic examiners.
'Many of the images depict women being stabbed in various locations on their bodies including breasts, being impaled by sharp objects,' Mr Buxman wrote.
Sonia Exelby, 32, boarded a plane from Portsmouth to Marion County in Florida, where she was found dead on October 17 last year
Father-of-two Dwain Hall will stand trial for Ms Exelby's murder later this month
He said the images found on Hall's devices were 'probative of [the] defendant's sexual interest in raping, stabbing, torturing and murdering women'.
Mr Buxman said this was 'consistent' with Hall's 'alphasadist' username, which he used online to communicate with Ms Exelby on a hardcore fetish website called Motherless, The Telegraph reports.
The pair first came into contact via the fetish website and early indications from the police investigation into her death suggest Ms Exelby had paid Hall to take her life.
Ms Exelby suffered from depression and body dysmorphia - and police said she 'left evidence on her computer indicating that she was again suicidal'.
However, her family have claimed she was groomed and had been concerned about the fetish website.
In a final disturbing message she sent to a friend while her captor was taking a shower in the Airbnb cabin, she said: 'I thought he'd do it quick and not give my mind time to stew.'
'My time's up,' she concluded.
Prosecutors have argued that the images recovered from Hall's devices should be admitted to court because it proved Hall's 'intent and motive to murder the victim for his own sexual gratifications' and established the defendant's 'unique and unusual sexual desires'.
However, his defence lawyer has argued that the images of women, some naked with nooses around their necks, are 'not consistent with what occurred in this case' and should not be used in the trial.
Timothy McCourt, the presiding judge, said there were similarities between the photos and the violent sex Hall admitted having with Ms Exelby before she died.
A judgment on whether the photos can be used as evidence will be issued before jury selection on November 16.
Police said Ms Exelby recorded footage describing in graphic detail how she wanted to die.
In the video, she can be seen sitting on a chair 'looking dishevelled' and with multiple bruises across her face, neck and breasts.
Hall stands accused of abusing and murdering Ms Exelby inside this Airbnb cabin before dumping her body in a shallow grave
Hall, who claimed Ms Exelby had also asked for rough sex, can be heard asking her why she was in the US before she replied in tears: 'Because I am an awful person,' adding: 'I've crushed everyone who ever loves me.'
Ms Exelby went on to detail why she was an awful person before Hall asked her 'how' she wanted to die and to 'describe it'.
Initially she refused to answer but eventually said she wanted 'to be stabbed'.
Ms Exelby was found dead with four stab wounds.
Forensic examiners found Hall's DNA on a 7in customised steel knife that he allegedly used to kill her.
The Daily Mail previously obtained unseen transcripts of Hall speaking to his wife of 28 years, Ginger Stein, from Marion County Jail in Ocala as he awaits trial.
In them, he appears resigned to his fate, admitting: 'I don't think I'm ever coming home.
'It's a lot to deal with, I'm sorry,' he tells Ms Stein, 44.
In what appears to be a reference to the $4,000 he told police that Ms Exelby had agreed to pay him he goes on: 'We needed money but we didn't need it this bad.'
Elsewhere, Hall seems furious at being portrayed as a 'monster'. He refuses to accept he has done anything wrong, instead blaming Sonia for her brutal demise.
'You don't know how worried I am about losing you because when all the s*** about this case starts coming out it is going to look so f****** bad,' he tells his wife.
'I was trying to help somebody and humans have a tendency to screw you over and that is basically what happened. I am not the monster that they are painting me out to be.
'But we all know what the end result was – it was just compassion and love – I tried to give Sonia what she wanted. I tried to do it in a sense that was compassionate and not being a freaking monster and just picking a victim and seducing them to do whatever and taking advantage of them in any way shape or form.'
Hall accepts that 'in simple terms there is no defence', but he adds: 'I don't believe I did anything wrong.'
It is not a sentiment shared by Sonia's family.
'We know that life wasn't always easy for you, but your life was so much more than the struggles you faced,' they said in their tribute.
'It is so important to us that the life you lived is what you are remembered for.
'You were deeply loved, and you will always be deeply loved.
'We miss you more than words can ever say. We love you so much, always, and forever.'
Hall denies all the charges.
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