Three people, including a friend of the musician, have been blamed for the death of former One Direction member Liam Payne. Previously, the Argentine police dismissed the theory of the star’s suicide, but now they have revealed new details about the tragedy and the results of the singer’s postmortem toxicology report.
The lifeless body of 31-year-old Payne was found beneath the hotel balcony in Buenos Aires on October 17. The musician had fallen from the third-floor balcony, where his room was located. A preliminary toxicology report indicated that the singer was under the influence of drugs at the time of his death.
“Three individuals have been charged with crimes, including drug trafficking and aiding in drug distribution,” E! Online quotes a statement from Prosecutor Andres Esteban Madrea.
The case involves a drug dealer who supplied Payne with a lethal dose, a hotel employee who facilitated the transfer of illegal substances, and a friend of the singer who was with him in his final days. The friend is accused of leaving the artist in danger. All three have already been taken into custody.
Authorities conducted a forensic examination of Liam’s phone, reviewing call and message history, and scrutinized 800 hours of surveillance footage from cameras in the hotel and surrounding area. Experts will also attempt to recover data from a laptop found broken in the singer’s hotel room.
Prosecutors ruled out the involvement of a third party in the star’s death and also dismissed the possibility of “self-harm”:
“The absence of a defensive reflex posture during the fall, along with other evidence, suggests that Liam Payne was not fully conscious or had lost consciousness at the time of the fall,” the statement reads.
The results of toxicology tests were also released. According to the new report, there were “traces of poly-substance abuse” in the artist’s system—a “cocktail” of alcohol, a narcotic substance, and a prescription antidepressant were present in his blood at the time of death.
“This situation also rules out any possibility of intentional or deliberate action on the victim’s part,” authorities stated, “since in the condition he was in, he would not have been aware of what he was doing.”
Liam Payne flew to Buenos Aires for the concert of his former bandmate, Niall Horan, which took place on October 2 and decided to stay in the city. The singer was accompanied by his girlfriend, model, and actress Kate Cassidy.
After Payne’s death, the police found illegal substances in his hotel room; the furniture was broken, and the TV was smashed. Moreover, shortly before the tragedy, the police had been called to the hotel, with staff reporting an “aggressive man who was reportedly under the influence of drugs” in the room, as reported the Daily Mail.
Following the singer’s death, condolences poured in, including from his girlfriend, Kate Cassidy. On social media, she wrote: “Thank you for all the kind words and love that have been sent my way. I am in complete shock. Nothing about the past few days feels real.”
According to some sources, Payne had recently been struggling with severe depression due to issues with his former fiancee, American model Maya Henry.
Shortly before the incident, she accused the star of stalking, and earlier, she had written a book about a girl who becomes romantically involved with a celebrity. This led to a wave of criticism against Henry after the tragedy, with some even accusing her of contributing to Liam’s death.
The Internet thinks Diddy was involved in Liam Payne’s death. Shortly before his passing, Payne’s contract with Universal Music was terminated after eight years of collaboration.
The musician’s troubles reportedly began when he started experimenting with new music and lyrics. Allegedly, in some of his songs, Liam openly discusses issues with influential figures in the music industry and his struggles.
In numerous interviews, he hinted that he was preparing to “reveal certain secrets.” Meanwhile, Diddy, who is currently awaiting trial on charges of human trafficking and sexual assault, may have “interfered” with Payne’s intentions to speak out.