Boelter pleads guilty in lawmaker attacks, agrees to two life sentences

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Precious Arzuaga, the apparent ringleader in the brutal killing of an Oakdale man in upstate New York, has pleaded guilty 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, reported the Rochester, N.Y. outlet News10NBC. 

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. 

Arzuaga was one of seven defendants charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and concealment of a human corpse. In total, she pleaded guilty to 11 charges. 

Earlier this month, another defendant, Emily Motyka, 

 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 he was staying with her in an apartment. Two weeks after he left, Nordquist was supposed to return home, but he did not. 

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.

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Regina Medina

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Precious Arzuaga pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and other charges in the 2025 killing of Oakdale man Sam Nordquist, who prosecutors say was tortured for weeks before his body was found in upstate New York.

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