Officials in upstate New York are saying “at this time we have no indication” that the torture killing of a Twin Cities transgender man earlier this month was a hate crime.
Police: No indication torture, killing of Twin Cities transgender man in New York was hate crime
Sam Nordquist was found dead from repeated acts of violence for more than a month by several people before they discarded his body in a field, officials said.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
February 17, 2025 at 5:12PM
Sam Nordquist, 24, who left for New York in September, was reported missing on Feb. 9 and found dead Wednesday from repeated acts of violence for more than a month by several people before they discarded his body in a field in a neighboring county.
Arrested and charged in connection with Nordquist’s death are five New York state residents: Precious Arzuaga, 38, and Patrick Goodwin, 30, of Canandaigua; Kyle Sage, 33, of Rochester; Jennifer Quijano, 30, of Geneva; and Emily Motyka, 19, of Lima.
They were charged Friday after police searched and found evidence in a room Thursday at the Patty’s Lodge motel in Canandaigua, about 30 miles southeast of Rochester, the last place Nordquist was known to be staying.
On Sunday, a joint statement from the State Police and the Ontario County District Attorney’s Office was issued in response to what they said were “many questions as to whether Sam’s murder was a hate crime.”
Based on current state law, the statement continued, “At this time we have no indication that Sam’s murder was a hate crime. ... We are disclosing that Sam and his assailants were known to each other, identified as LGBTQ+, and at least one of the defendants lived with Sam in the time period” leading up to Nordquist’s death.
“We share the community’s shock at such a heinous act of violence, and understand the fear circulating amongst members of the LGBTQ+ community,” the statement read. “We will follow any and all leads to ensure that the motive for this murder is uncovered.”
A vigil has been scheduled for Monday evening outside Wood Library in Canandaigua.
Nordquist worked at the Riesco group homes for people with disabilities based in Little Canada. Family members said he left Minnesota in September to meet his online girlfriend in New York, but they lost contact with him on Jan. 1.
Nordquist was due to return to Minnesota by Oct. 12 and had a round-trip plane ticket, his sister Kayla Nordquist said in an online fundraiser started on behalf of the family.
“Sam was a wonderful person, all full of life,” said Linda Nordquist, his mother. “[He] would take his shirt off his back if you needed it more than he did.”
State Police Maj. Kevin Sucher, whose command includes the Finger Lakes region, said the circumstances of the crime are “beyond depraved. ... No human being should have to endure what Sam endured.”
State Police Capt. Kelly Swift added that the investigation has so far revealed a “deeply disturbing pattern of abuse” that led to Nordquist’s death.
Kyeland Jackson of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story, which includes material from the Associated Press.
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