A BLACK TRANS MAN FLEW TO NY FOR LOVE —SAM NORDQUIST WAS TORTURED TO DEATH BY FEMALE LOVER’S CRACK GANG FOR 2 MONTHS
'THEY GOT A SICK HIGH OUT OF IT'
EXCLUSIVE
Feb. 14, 2025
Five upstate New Yorkers are under arrest for murdering a black trans man they tortured and raped for two months.
"The facts and circumstances of this crime are beyond depraved," Ontario County District Attorney James Ritts said during a Friday morning news conference. "This is, by far, the worst homicide investigation that our office has ever been a part of."
Sam Nordquist, 24, came to New York for love in late September. The Minnesota native met Precious Arzuaga, 38, of Geneva, on the Internet and flew here for her. At first the happy lovers flaunted their affair.
The honeymoon didn't last long.
Nordquist and Arzuaga broke up after Halloween, a source close to the investigation told The Free Lance. Arzuaga rekindled a romance with one of her former lovers, 30-year-old Jennifer A. Quijano, a/k/a "Brooklyn," also of Geneva. Brooklyn was jealous of Sam.
"She wanted him out," the source said. "I think they used her for her money and her DSS checks."
Arzuaga, Brooklyn and others were part of a drug-dealing crew.
“They're all known Crack addicts," according to the source. "They sell drugs from a certain house in one of the neighborhoods in Geneva."
Arzuaga lived in Geneva, but kept a room at Patty's Lodge in Hopewell, about 35 miles southeast of Rochester.
"It's a total crack den," the source said. "She was a prostitute. She would do tricks at night."
By early December 2024, Nordquist was Arzuaga's prisoner in Room 22 at Patty's Lodge, according to State Police and the felony complaint prosecutors filed against Arzuaga and four others in Ontario County on Friday.
The complaint charges Arzuaga, Quijano, Kyle Sage, 33, Patrick A. Goodwin, 30, and Emily Motyka, 19, with second degree murder.
Precious Arzuaga, 38, Jennifer A. Quijano, a/k/a "Brooklyn," 30, Kyle Sage, 33, Patrick A. Goodwin, 30, and Emily Motyka, 19, are all charged with second degree murder for allegedly killing Sam Nordquist in upstate New York. Photo credit: New York State Police.
It accuses them of murdering Nordquist "by punching, kicking, and striking her with numerous objects, including but not limited to sticks, dog toys, rope, bottle, belts, canes and broken boards."
The complaint also accuses them of "torturing, sexually assaulting her with a table leg and broomstick."
"They got a sick high out of it," the source says.
The criminal complaint and the source refer to Nordquist as “her.”
According to the felony complaint, the torture stopped on Feb. 2.
"She was being held at Patty's lodge," the source explained, "and then transferred to [Arzuaga's mother's] Shirley's house in a dog cage and beaten and tortured there."
Witnesses reported seeing Arzuaga and Quijano with Nordquist on the night of Jan. 31. One witness reported seeing Nordquist "beaten to a blood pulp."
"They had a towel wrapped around her head," the witness said, "and they were taking her into Shirley's house and saying 'I need help to hide a body.'"
Nordquist's captors took control of his mobile phone early on. They sent messages saying Sam was safe to his mother. They even made a hostage video.
Sam Nordquist, 24, with Precious Arzuaga, 38, before Arzuaga, her lover Jennifer A. Quijano, a/k/a "Brooklyn," and Kyle Sage, 33, Patrick A. Goodwin, 30, and Emily Motyka, 19, allegedly tortured and killed Nordquist.
Nordquist's family filed a missing person's complaint with the State Police on Feb. 9, Lynnea Crane, State Police Public Information Officer, said during Friday's news conference.
That led to the execution of a search warrant at Patty's Lodge on Monday, Feb. 13, Kelly Swift, Captain of the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, revealed .
"Over the past 72 hours, our investigators and multiple law enforcement agencies have worked tirelessly to uncover the details surrounding this case," Capt. Swift said.
"Based on evidence and witness statements," Captain Swift added, the abuse began in "early December 2024" and lasted into "February 2025."
Nordquist's body was found in a farm field on Payne Road in nearby Yates County on Thursday, about 15 miles from Patty's Lodge.
The Medical Examiner will confirm the precise cause of death.
Arzuaga, Quijano, Sage, Goodwin, Motyka were arraigned Friday morning and ordered held without bail in the Ontario County jail, according to court records.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the New York State Police at 585-398-4100 or crimetip@troopers.ny.gov
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