Prosecutors probe drug link in tragic death of Liam Payne
The prosecutor's office in Buenos Aires, investigating the death of British musician Liam Payne, is seeking to identify who sold him drugs. Meanwhile, the women present in the hotel room with the musician testified that he did not consume such substances in their presence.
According to the Infobae portal, the prosecutor's office in Buenos Aires is trying to establish who sold drugs to Payne. They are also not ruling out the involvement of third parties in the incident. Based on injuries and the position of the body, it is suspected that the musician may have been unconscious or semi-conscious.
On Thursday, the police gathered statements from three hotel employees and two women who were in the musician's room several hours before his death. According to Infobae sources, investigators suspect that someone from the staff may have supplied him with the drugs.
They were with Payne in the hotel. "We drank alcohol"
Two sex workers, who were the last to be in the hotel room with Payne, testified that he did not take drugs and acted normally. "We drank alcohol," they reportedly said.
"La Nación added in its report, though, that sources noted the two women were cooperative during the probe 'not only with their declarations' but also by granting 'access to their cellphones.' reports Page Six.
The women, aged 25, summoned via a platform offering services, were at the hotel on Wednesday from 11:30 AM to 4 PM. According to "La Nacion" sources, they left the musician’s room earlier but stayed in the hotel lobby for a while because "there was a problem, as Payne did not want to pay them."
Chronology of events
Argentine media are reconstructing the chronology of events from Wednesday afternoon. At 5:01 PM, hotel manager Esteban Grassi called the emergency number to request help for a "guest who is intoxicated by drugs and alcohol", and "When he is conscious he is destroying the entire room."
At 5:07 PM, the police patrol sent to the hotel reported that a man had fallen from the third floor. The ambulance called to the scene then confirmed his death, according to the "La Nacion" newspaper report.
At 6:10 PM, the capital's police officially reported that "Liam James Payne, composer and guitarist, former member of the band One Direction, died today after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Palermo."
In the musician's room, they found, among other things, a bottle of whisky, a white powder resembling cocaine, aluminum foil, pieces of candles, a lighter, and burned beverage cans. According to Infobae, the police are trying to determine if Payne attempted to produce crack, a drug particularly popular in the USA in the 1980s, before his death.
