Mom of Transgender Man Violently Tortured for Months Until His Death Speaks Out: ‘Pure Evil’

Sam Nordquist’s body was found last week, months after he’d traveled from his Minnesota home to New York to meet an online girlfriend for a two-week stay. His mother Linda Nordquist triggered the investigation that led to his discovery with a welfare check request when he failed to return home.

“The last thing Sam said is, ‘I love you, and I’ll call you tomorrow.’ Tomorrow came and I never heard a word,” Linda told NBC affiliate KARE. “He sounded sad, really sad. And Sam is an outgoing person.”

Prior to his trip, Sam and Linda had lived together in Oakdale, Minnesota, with Linda describing her son as an animal lover who worked at a group home for vulnerable adults, per the outlet.

“He had a heart of gold and wouldn’t hurt anybody,” she said. “This is so devastating. Sam did not deserve this. Nobody deserves this type of torment that he had to endure.”

CBS News reported on Sunday that Ontario County District Attorney and New York State Police said in a joint statement that there is “no indication” that the murder was a hate crime.

“To help alleviate the understandable concern his murder could be 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 the instant offense,” said the agencies in their statement.

“These people that did this to Sam are pure evil. They’re not even human,” Linda said, per KARE. “We will get justice for you, Sam, even if it takes the last breath out of me, you will have justice.”

Linda said that her son’s alleged killers “can rot,” per CBS News, adding that “they are scum, they are evil; I don’t know how somebody can be that evil.”

“It’s just going to take some time, we just have to be there as a family, be strong for one another,” she continued, admitting that she’s grappling with anger, grief, and shock over Sam’s death. “I don’t know, I’m at a loss for words, I don’t know what to say, what to feel, it hasn’t hit me quite yet.”

Sam (above left), who had not seen by his family since last month and was officially reported missing on February 9, was tragically found discarded in a field in the Finger Lakes region of New York.

On Friday, five people were charged with his murder.

Precious Arzuaga, 38 (top middle), Kyle Sage, 33 (top right), Patrick Goodwin, 30 (bottom left), Jennifer Quijano, 30 (bottom middle), and Emily Motyka, 19 (bottom right), have all been charged with second degree murder. As detailed by Crime Online, they’re also accused of violently torturing the victim for more than a month before killing him.

“In my 20-year law enforcement career, this is one of the most horrific crimes I have ever investigated,” said New York State Police Captain Kelly Swift, as reported by ABC affiliate WHAM.

Nordquist had left Oakdale, Minnesota with roundtrip airfare for a two-week visit with Arzuaga, according to a statement from the Canandaigua Police Department shared to Missing People in America’s Facebook page.

On Thursday, February 13, a search warrant was executed at Azuaga’s residence and Nordquist’s body was found in a field in Yates County

Swift told the press their investigation determined that the suspect “endured prolonged physical and psychological abuse” and “repeated acts of violence and torture” in the time between early December and early February. In the Missing People in America share, it was stated that “Princess has been controlling Sam.”

According to the complaint, as detailed by WHAM, Nordquist was sexually assaulted with a table leg and broomsticks, beaten with sticks, dog toys, ropes, and bents until he died. His body was then “transported in an attempt to conceal the crime,” according to Swift.

“The facts and the circumstances of this crime are beyond depraved,” District Attorney Jim Ritts told the media. “This is by far the worst homicide investigation that our office has ever been a part of. It is an ongoing investigation, so we are necessarily limited in the things that we can talk about. But no human being should have to endure what Sam endured.”

All five suspects were arraigned overnight Thursday and are being held without bail in the Ontario County Jail.