Murder Suspect in Sam Nordquist Case Previously Faced Animal Cruelty Charges
Court records reveal that this is not Arzuaga’s first encounter with law enforcement. In 2016, she was arrested and charged with animal cruelty and failure to provide sustenance to a confined animal.
One of the five suspects charged with murder in connection to the tragic death of Sam Nordquist had prior run-ins with the law, including a disturbing 2016 animal cruelty case in Ontario County.
Precious Nicole Arzuaga, 38, of Canandaigua, is among those accused of inflicting prolonged physical and psychological abuse that led to Nordquist’s death. Arzuaga, along with four others, has been charged with second-degree murder with depraved indifference, a crime authorities have described as "beyond depraved."
Court records reveal that this is not Arzuaga’s first encounter with law enforcement. In 2016, she was arrested and charged with animal cruelty and failure to provide sustenance to a confined animal, both misdemeanors. According to the Ontario County Humane Society, Arzuaga had locked her pit bull, Princess, in a 4-by-6-foot storage shed at a residence on County Road 6 in Geneva.
Princess was found in inhumane conditions, confined without food or water in a shed filled with urine and feces, with little ventilation. The dog was seized by the Humane Society and placed in their care while Arzuaga faced charges in Geneva Town Court.
While the 2016 case was related to animal abuse, the current charges against Arzuaga are far more serious and have left the community shaken. The arrest of Arzuaga and four others comes after an extensive investigation into Nordquist’s disappearance, which was initially treated as a missing person case before evidence uncovered a deeply disturbing pattern of abuse leading to his death.
Nordquist’s body was discovered in a field off Payne Road in the Town of Benton, Yates County, on February 13, 2025. The investigation revealed he had been subjected to prolonged abuse and torture from December 2024 to February 2025.
The prior animal cruelty charges raise questions about potential warning signs and patterns of violent behavior. Investigators have not drawn any formal connection between Arzuaga’s 2016 arrest and her alleged involvement in Nordquist’s death, but her history paints a troubling picture.
Ontario County District Attorney James Ritts described the circumstances surrounding Nordquist’s death as “the worst homicide investigation his office has ever seen.”
The investigation remains active, with authorities urging anyone with additional information to come forward.
As the community struggles to process the horror of the Nordquist case, the resurfacing of past charges against Arzuaga only deepens the sense of unease about what might have led to such a senseless tragedy.