Sam Nordquist killing: What happened in Room 22?

For a month, seven people held Sam Nordquist captive in a small hotel room in upstate New York, torturing him to death, authorities said. How did it go on in secret?

CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. — Sam Nordquist left home in Minnesota last fall and traveled 1,000 miles to be with a woman he’d fallen in love with online.

He ended up imprisoned in a cut-rate hotel in upstate New York, suffering unspeakable horrors before he was killed.

A gang of seven people — including the woman for whom he’d trekked across the country — have been charged with murder, accused of torturing and humiliating the 24-year-old transgender Black man in the hotel room for weeks before eventually killing him. The only people who called police were Nordquist’s mother and sister back home, who pleaded for authorities to check in on him when he stopped responding to their messages. But Nordquist’s body had already been dumped, wrapped in plastic bags, in an empty field.

Even though arrests have been made, first-degree murder charges have been filed and the victim laid to rest, this case remains an incomprehensible display of human malice. Online posts told a story of a happy couple, but Nordquist’s friends and family were increasingly concerned when he didn’t return their messages.

His mother feared he was being controlled — and has accused authorities of ignoring warning signs and failing to protect her child. And LGBTQ activists have said the case is a dark reminder of the risks marginalized people face in America, particularly today.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/sam-nordquist-killing-room-22-rcna194129

---