A 24-year-old man from Minnesota who had been missing since December was subjected to violence and torture before his remains were found this week in a field in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York, the authorities said.
Five people were arrested in connection with his death and charged with murder, the New York State Police said on Friday. At least one of them was said to have been staying with the victim at a motel.
The victim, Sam Nordquist, who the police said was a transgender man, had been subjected to “repeated acts of violence and torture” between December of last year and this month, according to Capt. Kelly Swift of the State Police’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
“In my 20-year law enforcement career, this is one of the most horrific crimes I have ever investigated,” Captain Swift said at a news conference on Friday.
“The facts and the circumstances of this crime are beyond depraved,” added James Ritts, the district attorney of Ontario County, N.Y.
The five people arrested have been charged with second-degree murder. They were identified as: Precious Arzuaga, 38 of Geneva, N.Y.; Jennifer A. Quijano, 30, also of Geneva; Kyle Sage, 33 of Hopewell, N.Y.; Patrick A. Goodwin, 30, of Rochester, N.Y.; and Emily Motyka, 19, also of Rochester.
Asked whether Mr. Nordquist’s death was a hate crime, Captain Swift said that such a determination had not been ruled out, nor had the possibility of more arrests.
Mr. Ritts said that the defendants were arraigned on Friday morning and were being held at the Ontario County jail without bail.
The police said that Precious Arzuaga had been staying at the motel with Mr. Nordquist and others who have not been identified. Mr. Goodwin is listed as a registered sex offender in the state for a case from 2015. The state lists his address as the motel.
The State Police began investigating Mr. Nordquist’s disappearance on Feb. 9 after receiving a request for a welfare check from his family, who told the authorities that they had lost contact with him at the end of January.
According to law enforcement officials, Mr. Nordquist traveled from Minnesota to New York last September. He was staying at the Patty’s Lodge motel in Hopewell, N.Y., in Ontario County, where the State Police executed a search warrant on Thursday.
His remains were found that day in a field in the town of Benton, about 15 miles southeast of the motel in Yates County, N.Y.
Mr. Nordquist had been subjected to “prolonged physical and psychological abuse” before his remains were left in the neighboring county, the State Police said.
Patty’s Lodge, the mocha-colored roadside motel where Mr. Nordquist was last seen alive, is far removed from the touristic sheen on display in the nearby downtown of Canandaigua, N.Y., a city of about 10,000 people that is a popular stop on the Finger Lakes wine trail.
The motel’s 22 rooms are rented out to people receiving housing assistance, according to its manager, Manny Patel.
“We were shocked that people could do this kind of crime,” Mr. Patel said.
Mr. Nordquist moved into the motel last fall and stayed in Room 22 with Precious Arzuaga, according to Mr. Patel and a neighbor who declined to give his name. Mr. Nordquist was registered as a resident for several months, Mr. Patel said.
A day after the State Police announced the arrests, a bare lightbulb remained illuminated outside the door of Room 22. A hand fan with the rainbow pride colors was stuck to the window facing busy Routes 5 and 20.
Mr. Nordquist’s mother, Linda Nordquist, told the local television station WROC on Friday that her son had been a kind person who was loved by his family.
“He would give you the shirt off his back,” Ms. Nordquist said. “Very kind, loved his family, loved his nieces and nephew, very outgoing, worked hard.”
Ms. Nordquist told the television station that the last time she had spoken to her son was on Jan. 1. She described the call with him as “real short.”
“Said ‘I love you. I’ll call you tomorrow’ and I have not talked to Sam since,” Ms. Nordquist added. “It’s heartbreaking. I’m devastated. I’ve cried so much.”
The police, citing the ongoing investigation, declined to comment about how the assailants had been led to Patty’s Lodge, or about the connection between them and Mr. Nordquist.
“We understand that the details of this case are deeply unsettling, and we want to assure the public that we are committed to seeking justice for Sam and his family,” Captain Swift said.
On Saturday evening, a small crowd found shelter against a winter storm inside Pintxo Wine Bar, a stylish bar tucked onto a side street in downtown Canandaigua that has become a gathering spot for the LGBTQ+ community.
P. Julian Plyter, who opened Pintxo in May 2024 after moving from New York City to Canandaigua two years ago, said he was attracted to the area, which he found to be “a place of kindness, tolerance and love.”
“I’m gutted that it happened at all, but especially here,” Mr. Plyter said, adding, “It’s jarring, because we think of this as a peaceful place, not somewhere that ends up in the national news.”
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