New details have emerged about how Liam Payne spent his final hours at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina – and the investigation has raised some serious questions.
Argentine police have released CCTV footage showing Payne being carried back to his room on the third floor by three men, believed to be hotel employees, just minutes before his death. According to his autopsy, the former One Direction singer was under the influence of drugs and alcohol and is said to have caused several disturbances in the lobby in the days leading up to his death. However, Payne appears conscious in the video as he holds his head up while being carried. Shortly after being returned to his hotel room, the singer fell to his death.
TMZ has obtained the police report showing that Payne may have been trying to escape from his room via the balcony when he fell. Some witness statements reportedly support the theory. Payne had a bag strapped to his shoulder when his body was recovered, which he did not have in the lobby video from just before the incident. A hotel employee also discovered a brown duffel bag on the second-floor balcony directly below his room. There was a note that supposedly said ‘for Liam’, with pills and a bottle of Jack Daniel’s. One theory is that he dropped the bag before trying to escape from his balcony.
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According to surveillance video obtained by TMZ, Payne would not return to his room and had difficulty with hotel security, who used a master key to let him in. Staff also removed a mirror outside his bedroom. Sources claim to the outlet that Payne did not like being alone in hotel rooms, as he often did during his time with One Direction.
While Payne reportedly had a drug addiction in mid-September, his bodyguard became concerned for his well-being and placed him in a room while they stayed at a rental house in Florida. Payne allegedly escaped from the balcony using a garden hose, a source told TMZ.
The 911 call released shortly after Payne’s death on October 16 indicated that hotel employees were concerned about Payne being in a room with a balcony, as they specifically mentioned this when they called for help. Moments later, Payne fell and died of “multiple trauma” as a “result of the fall,” the autopsy said. He was in a state of ‘semi- or total unconsciousness’. The prosecutor’s office ruled out “self-harm of any kind” or that a third party was responsible for Payne’s fall. He had traces of alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant in his system.
Three people were arrested in connection with Payne’s death. A former hotel employee and an alleged drug dealer were accused of selling him narcotics. Payne’s friend Roger Nores, who has been very close to the singer in recent months, was accused of abandonment when he saw Payne get out of the car an hour before the incident and left him alone. However, TMZ reported that a judge ruled that state prosecutors have no jurisdiction over the charges, and their appeal of the ruling was denied. Local prosecutors have not yet filed charges.
Court documents obtained by TMZ regarding the abandonment charge paint a disturbing timeline leading up to Payne’s death.
The night before the singer died, he ordered four bottles of whisky. At 6:36 a.m. on October 16, he ordered five more bottles. At 9:32 a.m., he allegedly asked Nores for “6 grams,” possibly referring to cocaine. The two had breakfast together and Nores left. At 2 p.m., Payne allegedly asked a hotel employee for another “7 grams.”
Nores returned around 3:45 p.m. Although a hotel employee claimed Payne was “visibly intoxicated” with dilated pupils, Nores left at 4:04 p.m., telling authorities he believed the singer was doing well and that he did not appear to be under the influence of anything. Witnesses claim they heard Payne breaking things in his room shortly afterwards. Payne eventually made his way to the lobby, where several guests claimed he was behaving erratically. Payne was carried through security before 5 p.m. Minutes later he fell dead.
Payne’s girlfriend Kate Cassidy is said to be heartbroken by the released video. “He could have been saved, he could have been helped,” her friend told the New York Post. “It’s devastating – and infuriating.”
Payne’s ex-bandmate Zayn Malik, who attended the star’s funeral last week, paid tribute to his friend at the first show of his ‘Stairway to the Sky’ tour on November 23. “Liam Payne 1993-2024 Love You bro,” with a red heart flashed on the screen.
