Two more people have been arrested in the connection with the torture murder of a transgender Minnesota man whose body was found dumped in a field earlier this month.
Sam Nordquist, 24, was reported missing on February 9 and his body found a few days later in New York, where he had reportedly gone to visit his purported girlfriend, 38-year-old Precious Arzuaga. Arzuaga and four other people — Patrick Goodwin, 30; Kyle Sage, 33; Jennifer Quijano, 30; and Emily Motyka, 19 — were arrested last week and charged with second degree murder and other charges, as CrimeOnline reported.
Now, police have arrested Kimberly Sochia, 29, and Thomas Eaves, Arzuaga’s 21-year-old son, charging them with second degree murder with depraved indifference, WHAM reports.
Police say that Nordquist had been staying at Patty’s Lodge in Hopewell with Arzuaga and others since September. But for months, between December and early February, the group brutally tortured him, including raping him with broomsticks and a table leg and beat him with sticks, dog toys, belts, and ropes until he died.
Ontario County District Attorney Jim Ritts said it’s possible there may be more people involved.
“It’s beyond belief as to where this has already grown to with seven arrests, but the door’s not closed. The investigation is not over,” Ritts said. “Sam didn’t deserve this in a million years. Sam didn’t deserve this, and what he went through is appalling. What we want for his family, for his friends, for his community to understand where we are at moving forward on the journey to justice for Sam,” Ritts said.
Authorities said they have found no evidence that Nordquist’s brutal murder was a hate crime, The Guardian reported, noting that at least some of the suspects identified as LGBTQ while apparently being unaware of internalized homophobia and transphobia.
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[Featured image: Left, Sam Nordquist/handout. Top right: Jennifer Quijano, Precious Arzuaga, and Emily Motyka. Bottom right: Kyle Sage, Patrick Goodwin, Kimberly Sochia, and Thomas Eaves/Ontario County Sheriff’s Office]
