What drove Sonia, a sweet-natured music tutor from Portsmouth, to fly to the US and pay a man to torture and murder her - and her killer's sickening words of justification to his wife

To this end, Sonia’s family have now released a tribute to a ‘truly beautiful person, inside and out’ who ‘was softly spoken and always gave the best hugs. Throughout her 20s she grew increasingly withdrawn and sought solace in video games and strangers she met online. In a phone call with Sonia, Hall said he owed $10,000 (£7,500) to the Internal Revenue Service. The message ends: ‘I’m sorry I don’t even know what I’m saying and I’m trying to be quick and My times up.’ It is not a sentiment shared by Sonia’s family.