Two Women Sentenced For Kidnapping, Torturing, & Killing Minnesota Trans Man Sam Nordquist

Two women, Jennifer Quijano (32) and alleged ringleader Precious Arzuaga (40), have been sentenced to life in prison for their involvement in the brutal murder of a transgender Minnesota man, Sam Nordquist (24), in February of 2025 in Ontario County, New York. 

The charges including first-degree murder, kidnapping, aggravated sexual abuse, concealment of a human corpse, and endangering the welfare of a child. 

It comes after two other individuals, Emily Motyka and Kyle Sage, pleaded guilty to murder and kidnapping charges in connection to Nordquist’s death earlier this year. Despite Nordquist being both a black man and a transgender man, Police allege they’ve found no evidence indicating the murder was a hate crime.

Nordquist’s Death

Nordquist’s body was found in a field on Thursday 13 February, 2025, a little over 20km from a Patty’s Lodge Motel, where he’d been staying at in New York. The motel rents rooms to those on housing assistance. 

Nordquist’s family had filed a missing persons report on Feb 9, 2025, five months after he left Minnesota to meet Arzuaga, the two having met online. The family allege they became concerned when Nordquist failed to board his return flight home.

According to the recent sentencing, the defendants allegedly kept Nordquist confined, forced him to kneel facing a wall, physically assaulted him, and used bleach on his skin, among other methods of torture.

At a press conference the day after Norquist’s body was found, Captain Kelly Smith of the New York Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations told the media that in her 20-year career, this case had been “one of the most horrific crimes I have ever investigated.”

“Our investigation has revealed a deeply disturbing pattern of abuse that ultimately resulted in Sam’s tragic death,” Swift said. “Sam was subjected to repeated acts of violence and torture in a manner that ultimately led to his death.”