A transgender man who was found wrapped in plastic and dumped in a field in upstate New York in early February was tortured and sexually assaulted for a month before he was murdered, authorities revealed in new court documents.
Seven people have been accused of killing 24-year-old Sam Nordquist, a Black man from Minnesota, but first they allegedly subjected him to a month-long torture campaign in which they treated him “like a dog,” forced him to eat feces, drink urine and poured bleach on him, prosecutors said.
The horrifying allegations were revealed in an indictment Wednesday that outlined first-degree murder charges against the seven suspects.
“He was forced to kneel and stand against a wall,” Assistant District Attorney Kelly Wolford said. “He was physically assaulted. He was sexually assaulted. He was prevented from using his phone. He was denied proper nutrition and hydration. He was fed feces. He was forced to drink urine and chew spit.”
Wolford continued: “They physically restrained him. They forced him to obey their commands, treating him like a dog. They covered his face with towels and shirts and fabric. They used duct tape and they poured bleach on him.”
Nordquist was reported missing on February 9, just months after he arrived in New York from Minnesota. His mother has told Syracuse.com that he left Minnesota for New York in September to meet a woman he had become romantically involved with after connecting online.
Linda Nordquist said her son was supposed to fly home in October but decided to stay longer to work on the relationship.
Police said he had lost contact with loved ones this year.
According to the indictment, the suspects tortured and beat Nordquist between January 1 and February 2 before they dumped his body in a field in Yates County in the Finger Lakes region. His body was found on February 13.
Seven people were indicted for Nordquist's death, including Precious Arzuaga, 38, Kyle Sage, 33, Patrick Goodwin, 30, Emily Motyka, 19, Jennifer Quijano, 30, Kimberly Sochia, 29, and Thomas Eaves, 21.
The initial arrests were made after police searched a room at the Patty’s Lodge motel in Canandaigua, New York, the last place Nordquist was known to be staying.
All seven were indicted on charges of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree kidnapping, second-degree conspiracy, and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
Arzuaga, Quijano, Sage and Goodwin are also charged with first-degree aggravated sexual abuse.
Arzuaga is charged with two counts of first-degree coercion because, according to the indictment, she “compelled or induced” two children — ages 7 and 12 — to “cause or attempt to cause physical injury” to Nordquist.
All suspects except Eaves have also been charged with concealment of a human corpse.
Despite Nordquist being a Black Transgender man, Wolford said hate crime charges will not be filed.
“A hate crime would make this charge about Sam's gender or about Sam's race, and it's so much bigger,” she said. “To limit us to a hate crime would be an injustice to Sam.”
“Sam was beaten, assaulted, sexually abused, starved, held captive and we cannot make sense of that,” Wolford added.
“We cannot put that on his gender, and we cannot put that on his race. And I know many will ask the question: Why? Well, as I stand here today as a human being, we’ll never know the answer why.
“Because what human being could do what happened to Sam? We’ll never make sense of this case.”
Wolford said the first-degree murder charges are the most significant penalty under New York state law – and that the charge requires the prosecution to prove that the suspects tortured Nordquist because they enjoyed it.
No arraignment date has been set.
