Two hotel employees and a “friend” of Liam Payne are at the center of an investigation by Argentine authorities into the pop star’s death last month.
On Tuesday night, authorities raided the homes of two employees of the CasaSur Palermo Hotel who they believe had contact with the former One Direction member, 31, before his death on Oct. 16, Buenos Aires law enforcement sources told TMZ. Lockers belonging to employees at the hotel were also searched.
Payne fell to his death from one of the hotel’s third-floor balconies that day, just minutes after a hotel receptionist called emergency services, requesting assistance for a guest who was allegedly “vandalizing” his room while “high on drugs.” The receptionist said he feared the guest was in danger because of the balcony in the room.
The “friend” authorities identified from text messages found on Payne’s phone was not found in the most recent raids.
Last month, officials said they were focusing on determining who sold Payne the drugs found in his body, which toxicology reports said included cocaine, benzodiazepines, crack and a drug cocktail known as “pink cocaine.”
A preliminary autopsy found that Payne’s fall caused multiple serious injuries that led to internal and external bleeding and that he “may have fallen in a semi-conscious or fully unconscious state.” Authorities, on the other hand, said he “jumped from a balcony.”
Days after Payne’s death, a source in Argentina’s National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office told People that an indictment was likely, as evidence showed that “a hotel employee supplied Payne with drugs.”
The hotel was raided a week after Payne’s death, with sources close to the investigation telling Us Weekly that CasaSur “must provide” additional security camera footage.
Local authorities later told TMZ that they were focusing on both the drugs found in Payne’s body as well as small items in his hotel room, specifically a soap dispenser that was allegedly used to disguise the substances.
Late last month, an Argentinian reporter said surveillance footage showed Payne fainting “and it’s tragic because where he was standing, he fell from the balcony.”
“It’s not like he jumped on purpose,” Paula Varela told Canal 13’s “Socios del Espectáculo” at the time. “This footage is in the official case file.”
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