As a witness speaks out in a controversial new Liam Payne documentary, the Mirror takes a look at the One Direction star’s preliminary autopsy, which includes some heartbreaking conclusions
A preliminary autopsy sheds light on Liam Payne’s heartbreaking final struggle before his death at the age of just 31.
The One Direction star plunged from his death after falling from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Liam had been visiting the country with his girlfriend Kate Cassidy, but at the time of his death on October 16, he was all alone.
Staff at the hotel had grown concerned for Liam’s welfare that afternoon, ringing emergency services for assistance after the popstar was observed “acting erratically in the hotel foyer” and “had to be carried back to his room”. Meanwhile, CCTV footage captured shortly before Liam’s death shows him appearing to be visibly intoxicated and creating a disturbance before staff intervened.
The coroner has ruled out suicide or foul play while upsetting details in the preliminary autopsy report point towards the singer’s state of mind at the time of the horror fall.
The preliminary autopsy indicated that Liam died due to “multiple traumas”, which resulted in “internal and external bleeding” following the 40-foot descent. Forensic experts determined that “the 25 injuries described in the autopsy are compatible with those caused by a fall from a height.”
They went on to state that Liam had no “defensive type” injuries and that the wounds were “vital and produced at the same time as each other”. It was therefore concluded that “the intervention of third parties would be ruled out,” as per Argentinian outlet La Nacion.
Meanwhile, on November 7, a report from the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office concluded that traces of “alcohol, cocaine and prescription antidepressants” had been deected in Liam’s system. Explaining why suicide had been ruled out, officials revealed that “in the state he was in, he did not know what he was doing and could not understand it”.
According to this report, dad-of-one Liam, whose tragic death has been linked to a substance-induced “psychotic episode”, “did not adopt a reflexive posture to protect himself in the fall, so that, for the moment, it can be inferred that he may have fallen in a state of semi- or total unconsciousness.”
It was concluded, therefore, that Liam hadn’t been fully conscious or was otherwise “in a state of noticeable decrease or abolition of consciousness” at the time he fell. The investigators determined: “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.”
This comes as a witness to the fall broke their silence in a controversial TMZ documentary, which has been branded “invasive” by some. TMZ Presents: Liam Payne: Who’s to Blame?, which aired Sunday, December 15 in the US, heard from hotel guest Bret Watson, who revealed he’d been left “haunted” by the tragic incident.
Bret said: “We happened to be looking out of the window of our hotel at the pool area to show her [the planner] the view from the hotel. We saw Liam fall… and so we immediately rushed out on the balcony to see what it was, and when we looked down, we could see that it was Liam laying on the ground.”
Those being investigated in connection with the tragedy have been named as Roger Nores, Braian Paiz, hotel employee Ezequiel Pereyra, hotel security Esteban Reynaldo Grassi and manager Gilda Martín. Last week, Judge Laura Bruinard ordered that CCTV footage of the fall should be reviewed – eight weeks after Liam’s death. Authorities will now examine the video which had previously not been shared.
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