Former One Direction member Liam Payne’s acquaintance and two hotel staff have been charged in connection with his death.
According to Variety , Argentine police arrested two employees of the CasaSur Palmero hotel – where Liam Payne fell from the third floor to his death on October 16 – and a friend of the singer. On November 7, La Nación news agency identified Payne’s friend as a businessman posing as his manager. This person is accused of abandoning the victim before he fell off the balcony after using drugs. The two met regularly during Payne’s two-week stay in the city. Police said the other two people supplied him with drugs.
Authorities raided eight homes linked to the three men. La Nación reported that police seized nine cell phones, three computers, two hard drives and a jar of marijuana.
Singer Liam Payne at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards. Photo: AFP
Andrés Madrea, the Argentine prosecutor in charge of the case, charged three suspects with “leaving the victim to die” and “providing and facilitating his drug use.” The authorities have not released their identities. In addition to multiple injuries and internal and external bleeding, a recent autopsy found traces of alcohol, cocaine and prescription antidepressants in Liam Payne’s system. The coroner previously said he had used multiple stimulants and sedatives, including pink cocaine , before his death.
In their report, prosecutors ruled out the possibility of Payne committing suicide and physical harm from a third party. “The lack of defensive reflexes during the fall, combined with the data relating to his drug use, leads us to conclude that Liam Payne was not fully conscious or was experiencing a significant loss of consciousness at the time of the incident,” they said.
Authorities confirmed that Liam Payne’s body was returned to the UK after weeks of examination. According to the NY Post , the singer’s father, Geoff Payne, arrived in Buenos Aires on October 18 and brought his son’s remains back on November 6 to prepare for the funeral. The date and location of the funeral have not been announced.
The singer’s father attended a memorial service for his son outside the CasaSur Palmero hotel on October 18. Photo: AFP
Liam Payne , born in 1993, rose to international fame after debuting with One Direction in 2010. The band began their career after finishing third on the UK version of X Factor in 2010, but disbanded in 2016. The members pursued solo careers and various projects. Liam released the song Strip That Down in 2017 and the album LP1 ( 2019). In March, he released the song Teardrops – his final recording.
He struggled with alcoholism and substance abuse during and after his time as a member of One Direction. Realizing his condition, Payne spent time in rehab. In May 2023, he posted a YouTube video celebrating 100 days of sobriety, announcing that he had taken better control of his life.
According to People , the singer arrived in Argentina in early October with his girlfriend Kate Cassidy. On October 2, the two attended a concert by Niall Horan – a former member of One Direction – in the capital Buenos Aires. Cassidy returned to the US two days before her boyfriend died.
