Two more people have been charged with murder in the death of a transgender man who authorities say was tortured for more than a month before being killed in upstate New York.
New York State Police said they arrested Kimberly Sochia, 29, of Canandaigua, and Thomas Eaves, 21, of Geneva on Thursday and charged with them with second-degree murder.
Five people were charged with second-degree murder last week in the death of Sam Nordquist, a 24-year-old transgender man whose body was found discarded in a field this month. Authorities say Nordquist died following repeated acts of violence and torture for more than a month by multiple people.
Sochia and Eaves were remanded to county jail pending arraignment.
It was not clear if they had attorneys. There was no comment from the public defender's office.
Nordquist was originally from Minnesota and traveled to the Finger Lakes area last September. He was reported missing on Feb. 9.
Authorities said Sunday his assailants were known to each other, identified as LGBTQ+ and there was no evidence of a hate crime.
Major Kevin Sucher, commander of the state police troop that includes the Finger Lakes region, said the facts and circumstances of the case were “beyond depraved" and “by far the worst” homicide investigation the office has ever been part of.
“No human being should have to endure what Sam endured,” he said, during televised news conference. Police did not share many details of the case, noting it remained under active investigation.
