Precious Arzuaga, 40, on June 26, admitted to torturing and killing 24-year-old Sam Nordquist, agreeing to a maximum sentence of life in state prison without parole

However, she could face another trial and potential death sentence

Accused Finger Lakes killers left a brazen trail of depravity and red flags, new documents show

Six others, Jennifer Quijano, 31, Kyle Sage, 34, Patrick Goodwin, 31, Emily Motyka, 20, Kimberly Sochia, 30, and Thomas Eaves, 22, were charged along with Arzuaga

Facing individual trials, the remain in jail following their arrest in February 2025, charged with the second-degree murder and kidnapping

Earlier this month Motyka pled guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for 15 years to life in prison

Precious Arzuaga, 40, on June 29, admitted to torturing and killing Sam Nordquist, 24, agreeing to a max sentence of life in state prison without parole. However, she could face another trial and potential death sentence

The leader in killing of Sam Nordquist was expected to plead guilty to all of the charges against her for brutal killing of Sam Nordquist last year.
Precious Arzuaga on Friday admitted to torturing and killing Sam Nordquist two years ago, agreeing to a maximum sentence of life in state prison without parole. But she could face another trial and potential death sentence.
Ontario County Court Judge Kristina A. Karle, prior to accepting guilty Arzuaga’s guilty plea, warned that today’s proceedings in her court was not guaranteed to have a bearing on a federal case. The convict could still face the death penalty if federal prosecutors bring capital charges against her.

Sam Nordquist,[photo], from Minnesota, left home for New York on Sept. 28, 2024, to visit Precious N. Arzuaga, a woman he had become romantically involved with after connecting online. He was never seen alive again

According to his family, Sam Nordquist, a 24-year-old transgender man from Minnesota, left home for New York on Sept. 28 to visit Precious N. Arzuaga, a woman he had become romantically involved with after connecting online, his mother said.
“That’s all Sam ever wanted, was to be loved and to be in a relationship,” his mother Linda Nordquist told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard Monday.
Precious Arzuaga, the apparent ringleader in the brutal killing of an Oakdale man in upstate New York, has entered a guilty plea to first-degree murder, kidnapping and a slew of other charges, according to news reports.
Arzuaga admitted to torturing Nordquist physically and psychologically for around a month before he died in February of 2025.
Arzuaga, 40, is expected to be sentenced on Sept. 4. Jury selection was planned for August, but the plea waives her right to a jury trial.

Ontario County Court Judge Kristina A. Karle accepted the guilty plea of Precious Arzuaga in court on Friday. Arzuaga is expected to be sentenced on Sept.

Precious Arzuaga [top left], was the ring leader. Six others, Jennifer Quijano, Kyle Sage, Patrick Goodwin, Emily Motyka, Thomas Eaves and Kimberly Sochia were also arrested in February 2025 and charged with the murder. Motyka has pled guilty

Precious Arzuaga, 40, Arzuaga was one of seven defendants charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and concealment of a human corpse in the death of Sam Nordquist, 24, of Oakdale, Minnesota.
Jennifer Quijano, 32, Kyle Sage, 35, Patrick Goodwin, 32, Emily Motyka, 20, Kimberly Sochia, 31, and Thomas Eaves, 23, were charged along with Arzuaga.
They were initially arraigned in Ontario County Court, Tuesday, March 11, 2025.
After New York State Police found that Nordquist endured “prolonged physical and psychological abuse,” each suspect was charged with second-degree murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy. All have since remained behind bars.
Additional to the listed charges, Arzuaga was also charged with coercion after the indictment alleged that she forced two children, 7 and 12, to engage in torturing Nordquist.
Ultimately Arzuaga pled guilty to 11 charges.
Each defendant gets a separate trial. Earlier this month, Emily Motyka pleading guilty to second-degree murder and kidnapping charges, waived the right to appeal and faces 15 years to life in prison.

Emily Motyka, [photo], 20, pled guilty to second-degree murder and kidnapping charges. She waived the right to appeal and faces 15 years to life in prison

Sam Nordquist met Arzuaga online in the summer of 2024 and, loved ones say, he fell in love. Nordquist traveled to the Finger Lakes region of New York to visit her in September 2024.
His communications with his family in Minnesota decreased while Nordquist was staying with Arzuaga her in her New York apartment.
Nordquist was scheduled to return home two weeks after he left. Having lost contact with him, on February 9, his family filed a missing persons report.
He never returned home and was not seen again until his remains was discovered in a field in Yates County.

Messages of support for Nordquist and his family on a poster board back home in St. Paul, Minnesota, during a vigil staged at the state Capitol in February, 2025

His mother, Linda Nordquist, requested local law enforcement conduct a wellness check on Nordquist. He said he was fine.
At one point, Sam Nordquist went to a Department of Social Services office seeking help from a social worker, according to his mother. He said he wanted to leave the apartment and that Arzuaga took his phone. His mother said the worker asked her son to return when she would have a so-called “escape plan” ready.
His body was found in February 2025 in a rural field in nearby Yates County.