Everything we know about Liam Payne’s death investigation so far-Emily Bashforth and Lillie Rohan-Entertainment – Metro

Liam Payne died in Buenos Aires after falling from a hotel balcony (Picture: Mike Marsland/Mike Marsland/WireImage)

Pop star and former One Direction member Liam Payne tragically died at age 31 on October 16, with an investigation still ongoing into the circumstances surrounding his fatal fall from a hotel balcony.

Payne died while staying at the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with an autopsy confirming that he died from multiple injuries sustained in his fall that led to ‘internal and external haemorrhaging.’

As fans of the 1D icon grieve his untimely loss, new information continues to come to light surrounding the fateful day, with three arrests already made in connection to his death.

The Little Things hitmaker was a beloved UK musician after rising to fame alongside his former bandmates Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, and Harry Styles on The X Factor in 2010.

Following Payne’s death, the group, who have been on indefinite hiatus since 2015, released a heartbreaking joint statement on how much they will miss him, while individual tributes declared Payne their ‘brother’.

Payne leaves behind his son, Bear, seven, whom he shares with ex-girlfriend Cheryl. He’s also survived by parents Geoff and Karen Payne, older sisters Nicola and Ruth, plus girlfriend Kate Cassidy.

As the world continues to come to terms with Payne’s shocking death, we look at everything we know about his final days.

Payne rose to fame as part of One Direction (Picture: Ian Gavan/Getty Images)

When was Liam Payne’s funeral?

A funeral for Payne was held on November 20 in Amersham in Buckinghamshire, northwest of London.

All of Payne’s former bandmates were in attendance, as were a range of celebrity pals, including Simon Cowell, James Corden, Marvin and Rochelle Humes, radio DJs Scott Mills and Jordan North, and his ex, Cheryl. She was supported by Girls Aloud stars Kimberley Walsh and Nicola Roberts.

Payne’s girlfriend, Cassidy, also attended, arriving with close friend Damien Hurley.

The beloved star’s coffin arrived at the church via horse-drawn hearse, with floral tributes arranged spelling the words ‘son’ and ‘daddy’.

Other floral tributes included one in the shape of a set of 10-pin bowling pins and a ball, which was a nod to Payne’s well-documented love of bowling.

Payne’s 1D bandmates attended his funeral in November (Picture: Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)

Celebrities including Simon Cowell also paid their respects (Picture: Karwai Tang/WireImage)

Flowers on his coffin read ‘son’ and ‘daddy’ (Picture: Tony Kershaw/SWNS)

After the service, four pallbearers carried his coffin from St. Mary’s Church, followed by Payne’s parents and Cheryl.

A small crowd of locals gathered outside the church on the roadside, paying their respects as the coffin made its way down.

Fans, however, stayed away for the most part, having already honoured Payne in their own ways at memorials around the world, where candles were lit, tributes were laid, and songs were sung.

A source previously told Mail Online: ‘Liam will have a very big send-off, quite probably at a large cathedral somewhere close to his heart. Liam was so loved by so many people, there will obviously be enormous demand and so the service will necessarily be a huge affair.’

His funeral took place days after his body was finally flown back to the UK from South America.

Three people arrested in connection to Liam Payne’s death

Payne and his girlfriend, Cassidy (Picture: Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

On November 7, Argentina’s public prosecutor confirmed three people were arrested in connection to Payne’s death. Two hotel workers were among the three detained, with a friend of Payne’s also having their home raided before being arrested.

The three had been formally charged with ‘abandonment of a person followed by death, supply, and facilitation of narcotics’, with the crimes punishable by a prison sentence of up to 15 years on conviction, if found guilty.

Rogelio ‘Roger’ Nores, Payne’s close friend, was speculated to be the person whose home was raided, however, he denied the claims to MailOnline.

‘I never abandoned Liam,’ he said. ‘I’m really heartbroken with this tragedy, and I’ve been missing my friend every day.’

Then, this month, two more hotel workers were charged in connection with the tragedy.

According to legal documents published by Rolling Stone, the judge in charge of the case is looking into charges against the hotel manager and the receptionist head who called the police to the scene.

Hotel workers have been questioned in connection to the tragedy (Picture: Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images)

The documents read: ‘Since there is sufficient reason to suspect that they have participated in the investigated act, we ask that the following people give a statement.’

It remains unclear what the charges are against them currently.

However, it is believed the hotel receptionist made two calls to 911 around the time of Payne’s death.

In one, they reportedly described ‘a guest who is off his head on drugs and alcohol.’

‘When he is conscious, he is destroying everything in the room,’ they added, urging the operator to ‘send someone, please’ and to do so ‘urgently’.

They allegedly said they feared the guest’s life could be ‘in danger’, stating: ‘They must be in a room that has a balcony. And, well, we’re a little bit worried he’ll do something, that he’ll put his life at risk.’

Payne was staying on the third floor at Casa Sur Hotel (Picture: Tobias Skarlovnik/Getty Images)

A week after Payne’s death, a raid was conducted on his hotel suite and, according to local news outlet La Nacion, police were searching for further evidence that could help them piece together his final moments.

The Guardian also reported that cops had seized computer hard drives and the hotel’s security camera footage.

Several members of the authorities, plus other hotel staff, were interviewed, with Payne’s father spending three weeks in Argentina to assist with the investigations.

Liam Payne dropped by record label days before death 

Just days before his death, Payne was reportedly dropped by his label, Universal Music.

Payne signed with Universal’s Capitol Records imprint after One Direction announced their hiatus, but following a recent reshuffle was being managed under the main label. 

Days prior to his death, he was no longer listed as an artist or writer for the label, with sources confirming to MailOnline he had been dropped just a week earlier.

‘Liam’s advance was massive and he didn’t recoup [it]. Out of all of the One Direction boys, Liam was on the wrong path musically.’

Liam Payne’s final social media posts

The singer shared a throwback image from his birthday last year (Picture: Snapchat)

Forrest Gump was one of Payne’s Halloween costume ideas (Picture: Snapchat)

Some of the more heartbreaking details emerging surrounding Payne’s death include his final social media posts, which came less than an hour before news of his death was first reported by TMZ.

Posted on Snapchat, the star shared a throwback image of him and Cassidy, 25, posing in a mirror, as well as pictures of his breakfast in his hotel room.

In one video that Payne shared, he joked with the TikToker that she shouldn’t leave her hat on a table and told fans they had been getting up at 1pm every day.

The video was likely taken days earlier as Cassidy flew back to the US two days before he died. She said in a vlog that she dislikes staying in one place for ‘too long’ and ‘had to go home’.

Perhaps most upsetting, Payne had shared images from his reunion with Horan at the Slow Hands singer’s concert he and Cassidy attended in early October, marking the last known time Horan saw his former bandmate.

Payne shared a scenic image stating he was ‘happy’ he got some time away (Picture: Snapchat)

Payne and Horan reunited just two weeks before his death (Picture: Snapchat)

Liam Payne reportedly ‘overwhelmed’ by legal issues

Payne had also been dealing with some legal difficulties in the days leading up to his death after his ex-fiancee Maya Henry issued a cease and desist on October 9.

She made accusations that he had been ceaselessly contacting her, using different iCloud accounts to continue to reach out.

A source told People that the musician star ‘was extremely overwhelmed by all of the legal issues’.

What happened on the night Liam Payne died?

Police are still putting together the exact events of Payne’s final evening with concern over his mental well-being and possible substance abuse.

Speaking to media, one hotel guest said they saw Payne ‘passed out and convulsing’ in the lobby of the hotel just minutes before he died, with a 28-year-old woman further revealing he displayed ‘disturbing and weird behaviour’, including smashing a laptop.

The woman took photos of Payne in the hotel lobby moments before his death (Picture: MailOnline)

Payne was reportedly unconscious after reading an email on his laptop (Picture: MailOnline)

She claimed that when she approached him and asked him if he was OK, he distressingly replied: ’I used to be in a boyband – that’s why I’m so f**ked up’.

Payne was also spotted with two women and a man, who is understood to be Nores, a close pal of the singer who accompanied him during his Argentina stay.

The star’s alleged behaviour inside the hotel in the afternoon caused concern among hotel staff and the Casa Sur Palermo Hotel desk manager called emergency services to request assistance.

A call was made at 5.04pm local time (9.04pm UK time).

The Telegraph reported that just seven minutes later, at 5.11pm local time (9.11pm UK), after Police and SAME (Medical Emergency Attention Service) arrived, Payne was pronounced dead.

Forensic workers are gathering evidence from the hotel where Payne died (Picture: JUAN MABROMATA/AFP via Getty Images)

Photos of Liam Payne’s hotel room – including a smashed TV

While it’s unclear exactly what occurred in Payne’s hotel room in the moments leading up to his death, the 911 call details the manager’s concerns that the star was ‘breaking everything in the room.’

They told law enforcement: ‘We have a guest drunk with drugs and alcohol. When he [them, gender not clear in conversation] is conscious, he is breaking everything in the room.’

Also, in the call, they said they didn’t know if he was ‘in danger’ but asked for urgent assistance.

Payne’s room was trashed (Picture: The Grosby Group / Backgrid)

‘We are afraid he could do something that threatens life,’ they said.

Pictures of his room showed a smashed TV screen along with a table full of white powder, burn marks, foil and a Dove soap box, which Police are exploring as being a possible way hotel employees smuggled drugs to the Strip That Down hitmaker.

Liam Payne’s autopsy report reveals his cause of death

Alberto Crescenti, a director of emergency medical response service SAME, revealed that the injuries Payne sustained in the fall included a broken skull.

Payne’s former bandmates have paid tribute to their ‘brother’ (Picture: Dave Hogan/Getty Images)

Mr Crescenti described those injuries as ‘incompatible with life’ and referred specifically to the head wound, saying: ‘According to the emergency medical team sent to the scene he had a fracture in the base of his skull, extremely serious injuries.’

A preliminary autopsy report also stated his fall led to multiple traumatic injuries and ‘internal and external haemorrhaging’. 

Payne reportedly had traces of cocaine in his system when he died.

Argentinian outlets previously claimed that the 1D star’s early toxicology reports suggested that he had pink cocaine (which comprises several drugs), cocaine, benzodiazepine, and crack in his body.

However, it has now been confirmed that Payne had traces of alcohol, cocaine, and a prescription antidepressant in his system when he died.

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