Questions about Liam Payne’s final hours ‘answered’ as ‘drug dealer’ suspect speaks out

The events surrounding Liam Payne’s untimely death are still being investigated after three people were charged in connection with his case.

Aged just 31, the former One Direction singer died on October 16 after plunging from a third-floor balcony at Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Liam, who shot to fame as an adolescent on The X Factor, suffered “serious injuries that were incompatible with life”.

His sudden death has been shrouded in mystery after the star’s holiday in the South American country appeared to have taken a drastic turn. The father-of-one had been with his girlfriend of two years, Kate Cassidy, before she decided to cut their trip short.

And now, according to the latest reports, the singer, who previously opened up about his addiction struggles, is said to have spent his final days with locals under the influence of drugs. In a bid to understand how he catastrophically fell, investigators have worked ‘meticulously’ to rule out suicide and ‘third party’ involvement, according to a lengthy statement released last week.

Prosecutors reportedly believe Liam did not take his own life and have instead linked the tragedy to a substance-induced ‘psychotic episode’. The Mirror takes a look at the latest alleged events in the run-up to Liam’s death as one of the suspects speaks out and shines more light on the star’s final hours…

Three people charged

Three people have been charged in connection with Liam’s death, according to the prosecutor’s office. Officials confirmed the arrests of three suspects who are now under formal investigation. They have said the crimes were punishable by a prison sentence of up to 15 years on conviction. They have also confirmed one of the suspects included a hotel worker.

The long statement read that “unlawful conduct was discovered” and as a result, “three people were charged with the crimes of abandonment of a person followed by death, supply and facilitation of narcotics”.

According to the release, the first of the accused is the person who “accompanied the artist on a daily basis during his stay in the city of Buenos Aires”. That person is “charged with the crimes of abandonment of a person followed by death”.

The second person is a hotel employee, with them being charged with “two proven supplies of cocaine to Liam Payne during the period he was at the hotel”. The third person, who is also a supplier of narcotics, is “charged with two other clearly proven supplies at two different times on 14 October.”

Liam Payne’s friend Rogelio ‘Roger’ Nores has denied being a suspect in the star’s death and insisted he didn’t abandon the singer on the day he tragically fell from his hotel balcony in Argentina. In an interview with the Daily Mail, he denied claims he was under investigation connected to Liam’s death. He declared: “I never abandoned Liam, I went to his hotel three times that day and left 40 minutes before this happened.”

Bombshell claims from suspect waiter

One of the three people being investigated is Argentinian waiter, Braian Nahuel Paiz, 24, who is suspected of being Liam’s ‘dealer’ in the ongoing prosecution probe – claims he denies. Braian, who met Liam for the first time at the restaurant where he worked, has since made a number of bombshell claims.

Talking to journalist Guillermo Panizza, Braian, on Argentinian TV on Saturday, he claimed Liam communicated with him using a secret Instagram account after they met when the singer was dining with his girlfriend, Kate Cassidy. Revealing his home has been searched, but he is yet to be quizzed by investigators, Braian admitted he did take drugs with Liam, but insisted he never supplied him with narcotics or received any money from him.

Opening up about his time with the father-of-one, who he claimed he met twice in his hotel, he protested: “I never supplied Liam with drugs. Liam’s first contact with me was at my place of work. We swapped details and saw each other later that night. It was all normal. He came down from his hotel room to fetch me because I had got lost.”

He continued: “We got together there and he showed me some of the music he was going to bring out. I’ve heard people saying he was taking drugs, but the truth is that when he got to the restaurant where I was working he was already under the effects of drugs and he didn’t actually eat anything.”

Braian claims the second time he met Liam, on October 13, they spent the night together while the singer consumed cocaine and Braian smoked marijuana. He said: “We took drugs together, but I never took drugs to him or accepted any money.”

He added: “We consumed drugs because the truth is that something intimate happened. I stayed there all night… He wasn’t aggressive at all, he behaved really well with me, he was really sweet. He asked me if I was okay. I’ve got all the messages where we arranged that second meeting. I haven’t erased anything.”

Claiming he had no idea who the other two suspects were, Braian said he was confused when he saw photos from the singer’s hotel room the day he died. He added: “When I saw the photos of the inside of Liam’s hotel room nothing made any sense to me. The Dove soap packet was there when I was in the hotel but I couldn’t understand what it was for or the candles or the glass of water.”

Suicide ruled out

Prosecutors in Argentina are said to have ruled out the idea that Liam had taken his own life when he went over the edge of his balcony, which had been the source of speculation in the weeks following his death. In a statement, they said: “In the state he was in, he did not know what he was doing and could not understand it.”

Detailed analysis and CCTV

The formal statement said that from the beginning of the investigation and within a few days, “exhaustive and meticulous actions and measures” were conducted. It added that “several dozen statements” were received at the headquarters of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, including the testimonies of hotel staff, family, friends and medical professionals.

More than 800 hours of video footage from “various security cameras” in the hotel and others in the street was carried out in the “detailed analysis”. Additionally, the “forensic extraction of contents” of Liam’s phone was carried out. This led to his calls and messages on apps and social networks being “analysed”.

The “registry of guests” and the hotel’s bar and restaurant orders were “also examined to find out who visited the musician and his drinking and eating habits”. It continued that, with the help of expert personnel, “several gigabytes of data were obtained and examined in a short period of time”, including from the hotel reception’s phones and those of witnesses who volunteered.

Toxicology results

The initial toxicology report found traces of designer drug pink cocaine in Liam’s system. On November 7, a press release from the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office said that the singer’s toxicological results were shared with his family and showed that he had traces of “alcohol, cocaine and prescription antidepressants”.

The report also stated that Liam’s injuries “were compatible with those produced by a fall from a height and that self-injury of any kind and/or the physical intervention of third parties were ruled out”. It was also stressed that Liam “did not adopt a reflexive posture to protect himself in the fall”, meaning he “may have fallen in a state of semi- or total unconsciousness”.

Other ‘medical antecedents’ of Liam’s medical history have not been analysed yet. The report said: “For the prosecution, this situation would also rule out the possibility of a conscious or voluntary act on the part of the victim, since, in the state he was in, he did not know what he was doing and could not understand it.”

A search of Liam’s hotel room initially uncovered “what appeared to be narcotics, alcohol, destroyed objects and furniture”, according to detectives. Photos purporting to show inside the room where Liam spent his final hours were previously confirmed by news outlets including La Nacion and Clarin.

Body flown home

Liam’s dad, Geoff, flew back to the UK with Liam’s body on Wednesday, November 6, as confirmed by public prosecutor Andrés Madrea. He flew out to the South American country immediately after Liam’s death and waited weeks to be able to bring his son’s body home.

Geoff arrived at London Heathrow on the Thursday morning at 7:49am. Fans were aware of the plane’s departure and devastatingly tracked the flight all the way to the UK. So many people kept an eye on the flight that it meant it became the most tracked aircraft in the world.

Laid to rest

Fans of the singer began paying their respects outside St. Peter’s Collegiate Church in central Wolverhampton last week. They left flowers and emotional handwritten messages next to the Lady Wulfrun statue. Details of Liam’s funeral are yet to be made public, but it is believed to be taking place in his hometown of Wolverhampton.

A source told Mail Online: “Liam will have a very big send-off, quite probably at a large cathedral somewhere close to his heart. Liam was so loved by so many people, there will obviously be enormous demand and so the service will necessarily be a huge affair.” Fans all over social media have urged others not to attend the funeral and respect his family’s privacy.

The funeral is reportedly likely to be private in order to give his friends and family the proper time to mourn their loss. It’s said that the ceremony will feature a “series of song tributes from some very big acts” as a testament to his love for music, a source claimed to Radar Online. His family reportedly wish to add a special musical element.

Petition launched

In the wake of the tragedy, a petition was launched by fans of the singer calling for legislation to protect the mental health of artists in the entertainment industry. The petition, which was launched on Change.org by a fan of the late dad-of-one, seeks to “implore lawmakers to create legislation safeguarding the mental health of artists within the industry”.

To date, over 135,000 people have signed the online document which calls for “Liam’s Law”. The law would necessitate “regular mental health check-ups, adequate rest periods and the presence of mental health professionals on-set, including any ongoing support during their career”. If you wish to sign the petition, you can do so online.

Liam had opened up about his struggles with alcoholism at the peak of his success. In a chat with The Diary Of A CEO podcast host Steven Bartlett, he described hitting “rock bottom” before saying in 2023 that he was sober after going into rehab.