Five people have been arrested and charged in New York in connection with the murder and disappearance of a transgender man from Minnesota who was 24 years old. Police say he was beaten and abused for weeks before he died.
A news report issued Friday said that Sam Nordquist’s family asked the New York State Police to check on him on February 9 because they thought he might be missing.
On February 13, bones thought to be Nordquist’s were found in a field in Yates County, which is about 50 miles southeast of Rochester.
After that, police found proof that Nordquist “was subjected to ongoing physical abuse” from December 2024 to February 2025, the news release said.
At a news conference on Friday, Capt. Kelly Swift of the New York State Police said, “Sam was subjected to repeated acts of violence and torture in a way that ultimately led to his death.”
Swift also said that his body was moved “to try to hide the crime.”
Swift said the case was “one of the worst crimes” she had ever looked into in her 20 years as a police officer.
The report says that five people, whose ages range from 19 to 38, have been arrested and charged with second-degree murder with depraved indifference. The suspects were named by police as Precious Arzuaga, 38, Jennifer A. Quijano, 30, Kyle Sage, 33, Patrick A. Goodwin, 30, and Emily Motyka, 19.
Swift says that investigators are still trying to figure out how the five suspects are connected to Nordquist.
CNN has reached out to the suspects’ lawyers to get their thoughts. Lawyers for Goodwin and Quijano told CNN they had nothing to say.
At the news conference, Ontario County District Attorney Jame Ritts said that the suspects were shown in court on Friday morning and are being held without bail at the Ontario County Jail.
They could all spend anywhere from 15 years to life in jail if they are found guilty, Ritts said.
Kim Nordquist, his mother, told CNN station KARE that her son “had a heart of gold and wouldn’t hurt anyone.”
KARE says she said her son loved animals and worked at a home for people who were in danger. In Oakdale, Minnesota, he lived with his mother.
New York State Police say that an autopsy will be done by the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office to find out how Nordquist died.
A verified GoFundMe page set up by Nordquist’s family says he went to New York in September to meet a “online girlfriend.” The fundraiser said that Nordquist’s family and friends hadn’t heard from him since January 1.
Swift said Friday that police haven’t ruled out making more arrests or labeling the murder a hate crime.
“This crime was done in the most disgusting way possible,” Ritts said. “No one should have to go through what Sam went through.”
A report from the Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund says that 35 “transgender or gender-expansive people” were killed in 2023.
In a joint news statement, several Rochester City Council members said they were sorry for Nordquist’s family’s loss and stood with the transgender community.
“Our Trans and LGBTQIA+ residents are and have always been an important part of our communities,” says a statement from Mary Lupien, Stanley Martin, and Kim Smith, who are on the council.
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