Precious Arzuaga was sentenced to life in prison without parole Tuesday for torturing and murdering transgender man Sam Nordquist.
Arzuaga, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in July, stood in Ontario County court as Judge Kristina Karle imposed the maximum punishment. Her ex-girlfriend Jennifer Quijano received the same sentence for her role in the month-long killing. Spectators inside the gallery erupted as the sentences were handed down.
“F–k you. You’re the devil,” one spectator shouted at Arzuaga, according to reports from the courtroom. Others praised Karle’s heavy punishment while Arzuaga kept her head hung toward the ground, lifting it only to blow a kiss to her mother as officers escorted her out.
“We all want to know why,” Karle asked directly to Arzuaga. “Why was someone so good taken so tragically? Was it because Sam was everything you were not and will never be?”
The judge continued her condemnation from the bench.
“Sadly and tragically, he found you. And you represent everything opposite of Sam,” Karle said.
Nordquist’s mother Linda spoke before sentencing, describing her son’s character to the court.
“Sam had the gentlest heart of anyone I’ve ever known,” his mother said. “He saw the good in people. Even when they did not deserve it.”
The 24-year-old Minnesota transplant had arrived in New York in September 2024 and was staying with Arzuaga at Patty’s Lodge motel in Canandaigua, roughly 30 minutes outside Rochester. Arzuaga lured him to the region under the prospect of a loving relationship, authorities said, but instead began a campaign of torment stretching from Jan. 1 to Feb. 2.
For that grueling month, Nordquist was held captive inside the motel room and caged like a dog in a crime prosecutors compared to a Hollywood horror film. Arzuaga led a group of six others, including Quijano and two children — one of whom was her son — to beat, torture and sexually assault him. He was punched, kicked, beaten with sticks, dog toys, ropes, canes and belts, and assaulted with a table leg and broomstick in the weeks leading to his death. He died of repeated acts of violence and torture, authorities ruled.
“This is the worst of the worst,” Ontario County First Assistant District Attorney James Nobles said. “It may be common on television or in the movies, but not in real life.”
Prosecutors revealed chilling text messages Arzuaga sent before Nordquist’s murder. “Sam can never leave New York alive,” one message read, as attorneys characterized the killing as “torture for torture sake.”
Quijano’s involvement was motivated by jealousy after Arzuaga’s attention shifted away from her, prosecutors said.
“It’s just that Sam had Precious’s attention and she hated him for it,” Assistant District Attorney Sara Van Strydonck said. “So you want to know the motive? The motive is jealousy.”
Nordquist was reported missing by family members on Feb. 9 after he lost contact with them. He was found dead in a field in Yates County on Feb. 13, wrapped in plastic.
Both Arzuaga and Quijano pleaded guilty in July to all charges they faced, including first-degree murder, kidnapping, conspiracy, aggravated sexual abuse, concealment of a human corpse and endangering the welfare of a child.
Emily Motyka and Kyle Sage both pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and second-degree kidnapping for their roles in Nordquist’s death and are awaiting sentencing. The three remaining defendants — including Patrick Goodwin and Thomas Eaves — are scheduled to go to trial in January.