Tragedy of Liam Payne's death uncovered as funeral plans emerge
Liam Payne suffered catastrophic injuries 'incompatible with life' after falling from a third-floor balcony at the Casa Sur Palermo hotel in Buenos Aires on October 16. Here we look at everything we know about the tragedy so far, and unanswered quest
Almost three weeks on from Liam Payne 's tragic death, his family are set to gather to remember the star gone too soon.
The former One Direction singer, aged 31, tragically fell to his death on Wednesday, October 16 from the third-floor balcony of his hotel room at Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Liam, who shot to fame in the boyband after auditioning on The X Factor, suffered "serious injuries that were incompatible with life".
Argentinian police initially said the father-of-one had "jumped from the balcony of his room," however reports have since suggested that Liam accidentally fell after 'fainting', with witnesses claiming that he experienced a 'psychotic episode' before he died. The initial toxicology report found traces of designer drug pink cocaine in his system.
The star had been holidaying in with his girlfriend Kate Cassidy, 25, though she returned home to Florida after spending a fortnight in the South American country. More recent reports suggest his ex-girlfriend had been in the same hotel he was staying at before the tragedy, while a hotel staff member is reportedly being investigated as police look to determine who supplied the singer with 'pink cocaine'.
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His heartbroken father Geoff immediately flew out to Argentina to help bring his son's body home in order for a funeral to take place. Here is everything we know about Liam Payne's shock death...
Funeral plans
It was reported last week that Liam's body had been moved from a Buenos Aires morgue to the historic British Cemetery in the northern part of the Argentinian capital, following permission granted to his devastated father Geoff by prosecutors. Respected Argentinian daily La Nacion reported that Geoff was personally informed in a recent meeting with prosecution chief Andres Madrea that he could return to the UK with Liam's body two weeks after arriving in the South American country.
It stated: "All the documents are ready for the former One Direction singer to return to his homeland so a funeral can take place there next week. When Geoff Payne reached Argentina on October 18, he was told the repatriation process could take between four and five days, but because of the circumstances surrounding his son's death things took longer than expected."
Details of the former 1D star's funeral haven't been made public, but it is expected to be a private celebration of Liam's life following hundreds of vigils held by fans in the UK and all across the world in recent weeks. It's not clear whether Liam's former bandmates will be in attendance, but it has been claimed that some of Liam's famous friends will be.
A source claimed that there will be "a series of song tributes" at the funeral as Liam "loved singing and making music until the end." The source told Radar Online: "Liam's funeral is going to be packed with A-listers as he was so well-loved in the showbiz community, and so many of them are so sad about his tragic death.
"His family want to keep his farewell low-key and respectful, as it's what Liam would have wanted as he was so down to earth. But there are going to be a series of song tributes from some very big acts as he loved singing and making music until the end."
'Cry for help'
Reality TV star Kelly Osbourne believes Liam was "crying out for help" before his untimely passing. Kelly, 40, said the last time she spoke to Liam, he was in a "really good place" and she "wasn't", revealing that the dad-of-one had been "checking in" on her.
However, The Osbournes star claimed that Liam's mental health had declined recently, taking to TikTok saying: "To be alone in that mental state... and he was crying out for help and nobody helped him. I think that that is just beyond heartbreaking because he made all those people millions of dollars.
"Last time we'd spoke, he was in a really good place and I wasn't so he was checking on me to make sure that I was OK and saying that if I ever needed anything then he was there... and the fact that there was nobody there for him just breaks my heart."
'Fainted on CCTV'
While it is known that Liam fell to his death from his hotel room balcony, police are still investigating the circumstances around the tragedy. Investigators have indicated they do not suspect any "third-party" involvement.
Reports last week suggested that the singer accidentally fell after fainting on the balcony, with the fall reportedly captured on CCTV. Broadcast journalist Paula Varela told Socios del Espectaculo, a show broadcast on Buenos Aires-based TV station Canal 13: "There is footage that is not being released to the media with the balcony scene where you see that Liam faints and tragically because of where he is, falls from that balcony. If he had been beside his bed he would have fallen on his bed."
The footage is part of a horrific sequence of CCTV, it is understood. Ms Varela, 45, says it indicates Liam did not jump deliberately from the balcony.
'Preyed on'
A friend of Liam's has claimed he had been targeted by dealers who allegedly delivered drugs to his hotel room after he had been clean for weeks. Liam's friend told Mail Online how Liam had previously been in rehab in both the UK and California. They claimed he had recently been taken on by a new psychiatrist in Florida and those around him had hoped he was on the road to recovery.
"He went to Argentina to renew his USA visa where he had to undergo medical examination because of his history with alcohol and drugs," the source said. "The results of the tests were good. Liam was 100 per cent sober. But when he checked in at the hotel, at some point someone there started giving him drugs."
They added that Liam had been trying really hard to stay clean but claimed "they preyed on him," saying those involved only cared about money and not the star's health.
Hotel staff member 'under investigation'
A night worker at the Casa Sur Hotel, who had struck up a close relationship with Liam Payne, is under investigation following the singer's tragic death, according to reports. Argentinian broadcast journalist Paula Varela claimed on a popular TV show in Argentina that a young employee of the hotel in Buenos Aires, who had become friends with Liam, was the focus of an ongoing investigation, which was trying to establish who supplied the star with the drugs suspected of contributing to his death on October 16.
Speaking on on Socios del Espectaculo, a show broadcast on Buenos Aires-based TV station Canal 13, she said: "There's a lad who's being investigated, he was working nights at the hotel. He struck up an excellent relationship with Liam. He disobeyed an order from the hotel management. What was the order he disobeyed? It was not to take anything into Liam's room."
Paula continued: "Because of the good relationship he had with Liam, he requested a car through one of these taxi apps we all use because Liam wanted something. He did him that favour, a massive error because he's being investigated, and they're seeing what was transferred in that vehicle."
Nicole Scherzinger's text messages
In 2010, Nicole Scherzinger helped create the phenomenon that is One Direction - and kept in touch with Liam Payne until the day he died. Speaking of the fateful day, Andrew Lloyd Webber has now revealed how Nicole was still texting the star.
Andrew, who composed the music for the Broadway musical Sunset Blvd., which stars Nicole, said: "I suppose something that hasn't been said, and I suppose I could say, is that of course she mentored Liam, from One Direction." Speaking to Billboard, he said: "On the Wednesday when he died, she was still texting him that day." Andrew revealed that even after hearing of Liam's death, she still turned out to perform as Norma Desmond in the Broadway production.
He praised: "The fact that she even did the show at all is extraordinary. I mean, she is an amazing, amazing woman. She is without any question one of the finest performers I’ve ever worked with."
Nicole has since paid tribute to Liam, sharing a snap of the pair alongside Kelly Rowland while filming for their latest show. “Dear Liam, I will forever cherish and treasure the time we shared together, from fifteen years ago when One Direction was born, right up until just a few weeks ago,” she began. “It was such a blessing to get to work with you recently. We shared the same love and passion for music and I will forever remember the meaningful and joyful conversations we had.”
Liam Payne's 'ex-girlfriend at the same hotel'
The hotel manager who called emergency services before Liam fell to his death has claimed the singer's "ex-partner" was also staying there. Speaking to an Argentinian TV programme, Esteban Grassi said: "He was seen alone but his ex-partner was around."
When he was asked, "So she was staying at the hotel too?" on the El Trece show Telenoche, he replied "Yes" before adding: "A floor above, yes". A small clip of the programme featuring part of the interview has been shown online and also mentioned in other Argentinian media outlets.
It was not made clear who Mr Grassi was referring to in his claim. He is understood to have been among three hotel workers prosecutors revealed they had questioned.
Mystery hotel women
In the hours leading up to his heartbreaking death, he spent time with Aldana Serrano, 31, and Lucila Goitea, 27, at the Casa Sur Hotel. The group arrived at the swanky hotel around 11.30am local time on Wednesday and headed to Liam's suite at the hotel.
But they left five hours later at 4pm – just one hour before Liam tragically fell from his balcony. During Liam's final moments, he was said to be arguing with a mystery woman in the lobby of his hotel over money. He tragically fell 45ft, landing in the inner courtyard of the hotel.
Prosecutors confirmed they had questioned five people, including two women who had been with Liam in the hours before his death for a "reconstruction of his last hours", she added: "He was with two women in his room where there was access to drugs. I'm not going to say their surnames.
"[Woman A] gave a statement last night and [Woman B] has just finished hers." The women are said to have left the hotel before Liam plunged to his death and have been categorised as "key witnesses" in local media reports, rather than suspects in his death. Now, sources reportedly say Serrano and Goitea are "devastated". A pal told the Sunday Mirror: "They have been cooperative from the moment they found out Liam died. They have told police they did nothing wrong and left well before he fell. The two girls have vowed to continue help investigators and have said they will speak to police at any time."
Final photo
A heartbreaking final photo shows Liam entering the Casa Sur Hotel in the upmarket Palermo district.
Mere hours later, he would fall to his death from the third floor.
'Out of place' behaviour
A woman, only known as Rebecca, who had a half-hour chat with Liam in the hotel lobby described him as "desperate" to be recognised. She claimed he announced himself, unprompted, shouting "I'm Liam", to a queue of guests waiting for the lift, who weren't "bothered" about who he was. She said that Liam returned to the lobby with his laptop.
Surmising that he'd spotted an email that "upset" him, Rebecca said: "Suddenly he took the computer, shouted 'f**k this s**t mate!' and started bashing the computer on the ground." The singer's "out of place" behaviour "shocked" onlookers in the "high-end" hotel, but concerned, Rebecca said she asked him if he was OK.
She explained: "But he just kind of grunted. Then he said 'I used to be in a boyband. That's why I'm so f**ked up'." Shocked at his admission, she saw him get back in the lift, before a "British guy" apologised to the group on "his behalf", saying Liam "gets so high" sometimes. She added that he fell over when he returned to the lobby, with staff helping him in to the lift.
Just hours before his death, he told his close friend, Jodie Richards - who was his former performing arts teacher at Pink Productions - that he was having a "chilled-out morning" and showed "no cause for concern". She spoke to the "one-of-a-kind" star on Wednesday and initially thought news reports of his death were "fake".
The 41-year-old had been exchanging text messages with Liam hours earlier and said she then desperately tried to call and message him. She said: "He was looking forward to his day, he said he was having a chill, nothing seemed out of the ordinary", Jodie explained.
"He's always somewhere more glamorous than we are so LA, Argentina, I have to look at the time difference to see where he is, he usually texts me and it's the middle of our night. He seemed fine, he looked happy, he looked healthy - no reason for any kind of concern and then obviously I heard it on the news."
Speaking to Sky News, she added: "I thought it was fake news, I tried to phone him. Obviously he wasn't answering. I tried to text him, it wasn't going to a 'read' message - normally it does quite quickly, then as I turned the telly on it was getting more and more apparent it wasn't fake."
Desperate 911 call
It's believed the 31-year-old had been under the influence of drink or drugs, local media reports. In a desperate call made to emergency services, hotel staff requested 'urgent' support, with a receptionist telling the phone operator: "We have a guest who's off his head on drugs and is destroying everything in his room. We need someone to come."
After the line disconnected, the receptionist continued: "I don't know if the guest's life is in danger. The room has a balcony and we are afraid he might do something." Then just seconds later, the receptionist made the following heartbreaking clarification: "Just send an ambulance. Only an ambulance."
Witnesses close to the hotel have claimed that Liam had endured a "psychotic episode" in the moments leading up to his death. An office worker who was close to the Casa Sur hotel claimed that the on-site masseuse said Liam was acting erratically.
Josefina, a One Direction fan told América TV: "I was working in an office next to the hotel when we started hearing lots of sirens and lots of noise. A colleague went down to see what was happening and was able to speak to the hotel masseuse who said there was a man being aggressive who was breaking things and was having what appeared to be a psychotic episode and looked like he was out of it on drugs."
'Violent' noises
Residents staying in the hotel have described hearing "loud" and "violent" noises coming from Liam's room in the hour before his death. Speaking to the BBC shortly after the shocking incident, fellow hotel guest Doug Jones said: "I thought they were working on the room. There was a lot of noise, like heavy lifting, like banging, a lot of loud, violent noises, I thought."
Doug then saw hotel staff going into the suite where Liam Payne is believed to have been staying. He added: "I saw hotel people going in and out of that room, so I thought they were doing work on the room." However the loud noises returned, "So about 4pm, 4.30pm, I started hearing some more noise, I was still doing work," he said. "I heard a really loud, violent scream around 4.45pm, 5pm."
The police arrived just before 5pm, but reported hearing a loud bang from the courtyard as they arrive, at 5.04pm. A short while later, the tourist saw the "road full of cops," as the full tragedy on Wednesday evening began to unfold.
A search of Liam's hotel room 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 have been confirmed by news outlets including La Nacion and Clarin.
'Pink cocaine'
The toxicology report findings so far show traces of designer drug pink cocaine in Liam's system. Final toxicology results are still pending and may not be made public for a few weeks. It is also not known what amount of the drugs were found in the body.
Materials extracted from the singer's body in an autopsy following his death had "determined the presence of the class-A drug", according to respected news portal Infobae. ABC News claimed that among those substances was "pink cocaine", which contains a lethal mixture of drugs including MDMA, ketamine, methamphetamine, cocaine, benzodiazepine and crack.
Prosecutors said in a statement after Liam's death they believed he was in "in a state of semi or total unconsciousness" during a substance-induced 'psychotic episode' when he fell.
If you or someone you know has been affected by the issues raised in this article please contact:
Samaritans helpline 116 123
Aware helpline 1800 80 48 48
Pieta House on 1800 247 247
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