Two women get life in prison for brutally torturing transgender man to death

Two women who helped kidnap, rape, and torture Sam Nordquist, a transgender man, to death will spend the rest of their lives in prison.

Precious Arzuaga pleaded guilty in June to charges including first-degree murder, kidnapping and torture, and she was sentenced Tuesday in a Canandaigua courtroom to life without parole, according to Syracuse.com.

Judge Kristina Karle berated Arzuaga in open court for the emotional manipulation that preceded the brutal murder.

“He came here looking for love,” Karle said to Arzuaga in court, “and sadly, tragically, he found you.”

Related: Seven suspects charged with torture, killing of trans man Sam Nordquist appeared in court

Prosecutors say Arzuaga was the ringleader of the plot to lure Nordquist, a 24-year-old Black transgender man, from his home in Minnesota to Ontario County, New York. According to his family, Nordquist believed he was going to meet a girlfriend he had met online. Instead, a group of people led by Arzuaga kept Nordquist captive for weeks, beating him with objects and sexually assaulting him before his body was found in nearby Yates County.

Ontario County District Attorney James Ritts has called the case “by far the worst homicide investigation that our office has ever been part of.”

At Tuesday’s sentencing hearing, members of Nordquist’s family spoke about him, bringing Karle to tears, according to CBS affiliate WROC.

Kayla Nordquist, Sam’s sister, testified that he believed he had found love through his online communication with Arzuaga.

“He wanted to build a life with someone who loved him for exactly who he was,” Kayla said, according to Syracuse.com. “Sam believed he had found that future.”

In court, Arzuaga said Sam had shown genuine affection for her and her family, but she did not deny any of the allegations prosecutors made against her.

Related: Transgender man Sam Nordquist tortured and killed in upstate New York

“I want to say I’m sorry for what happened to Sam,” Arzuaga said. “I can’t take back what happened, although I wish I could. Sam really did love me and my kids.”

Arzuaga admitted during the case that she kept Nordquist prisoner in a room she shared with her children at Patty’s Lodge. Prosecutors said that over the course of a month, Arzuaga, her adult son and two other defendants who had previously been convicted of sex offenses beat and tortured Nordquist.

New York law allows only a sentence of life without parole for first-degree murder, but federal investigators have also considered bringing federal charges. Arzuaga could face the death penalty if convicted in federal court.

Jennifer “Brooklyn” Quijano was also sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to every charge against her. Quijano admitted participating in Nordquist’s prolonged abuse and helping conceal his body after his death.

Two other people, Kyle Sage and Emily Motyka, have pleaded guilty to related crimes. Patrick Goodwin, Thomas Eaves, and Kimberly Sochia, who also face murder and torture charges, await trial.