Argentine prosecutors investigating the death of Liam Payne confirmed last night the arrest of three suspects who are now under formal investigation.
They did not name a ‘friend’, whom they accuse of ‘abandoning a person followed by death’ in relation to the singer’s death.
They also accuse the individual of being an accessory in the supply of drugs, crimes that are punishable by prison sentences of up to 15 years if convicted.
According to ABC News, two hotel workers are also among three individuals now being formally investigated by authorities.
It comes after the One Direction star, 31, died after falling from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur Palmero Hotel in Buenos Aires on October 16.
Argentine prosecutors investigating the death of Liam Payne sensationally confirmed last night the arrest of three suspects who are now under formal investigation.
In their third official statement released since the star’s death, prosecutors revealed that only alcohol, cocaine and an antidepressant were found in the former One Direction singer’s system.
Despite previous speculation, they have ruled out that the pop star took his own life after falling from the balcony.
The statement from the investigation led by prosecutor Andrés Esteban Madrea confirmed that ‘illicit conduct’ was discovered in relation to the death of the pop star.
The statement said: ‘Three people were charged with the crimes of abandonment of a person followed by death, supply and facilitation of narcotics.
‘From the beginning of the investigation and within a few days, exhaustive and meticulous actions and measures were carried out to clarify the circumstances surrounding the artist’s death.’
They disclosed that 800 hours of CCTV footage was examined, as well as several dozen statements received from hotel staff, family, friends and medical professionals.
They confirmed that during the investigation they had examined the pop star’s mobile phone, as well as the hotel’s guest register.
They also confirmed that the necessary thanatological and laboratory studies in the autopsy were carried out and completed.
The statement continues: ‘As a result of the evidence collected and after analyzing the different collections of evidence and numerous documentary annexes and the background of the case, prosecutor Andrea Madrea formally accused three people, requesting their prosecution and arrest in a 180-page document. . Report presented last Friday before Judge Bruniard.
They confirmed that an individual who accompanies the artist daily during his stay in Buenos Aires has been charged with abandonment of a person with subsequent death.
The person in question has also been accused of concurrence with the supply and facilitation of narcotics according to the authorities.
The second defendant, who is a hotel worker, has been accused of supplying cocaine to Liam Payne during the period he was at the hotel.
The third person has also been charged with supplying narcotics to the pop star on October 14, prosecutors say.
‘In addition, nine searches were requested at homes in the Federal Capital and the province of Buenos Aires, as well as the establishment of the secrecy of summary proceedings until their execution, in order to protect the results and also the logical integrity of the facts. investigation.
‘Judge Bruniard, in accordance with her ruling and the evidence she analyzed, granted the raids requested by the Prosecutor’s Office, which were carried out with positive results, and took into account the facts alleged by the Public Ministry to notify the accused and prohibit preventing them from leaving the country.
‘In addition to the compelling evidence obtained so far (visual, registry, medical, scientific, documentary, telephone, testimonial, etc.), the investigation must continue, since, among other procedures, the unlocking of the personal netbook of the victim – found broken, and other devices seized during the investigation are still ongoing.
‘According to the investigation led by Madrea and his team of prosecutors, which analyzed testimonies, videos, messages, documents, invoices, social networks and communications, among other elements, at least four deliveries of narcotics from third parties and other facilitations of addictive substances. They were accredited in a visible, concrete and convincing way by their direct environment, which were addressed to the former member of the group One Direction during his stay at the hotel, between October 13 and 16.
“The results of the toxicological studies – already communicated to his family – revealed that, in the moments before his death and during at least his last 72 hours, Payne only had traces in his body of polydrug use of alcohol, cocaine and an antidepressant. This conclusion was reached after complete toxicological tests on urine, blood and vitreous humor, which were carried out in a very short time.
‘The mortuary doctors of the Forensic Medical Corps (CMF) who performed the autopsy were the director of the Judicial Morgue, Santiago Maffia Bizzozero, and the forensic doctor Roberto Víctor Cohen, who concluded that Payne’s death was caused by ‘polytrauma’ and ‘ polytrauma’ and ‘internal’. and external hemorrhage’, as a result of the fall that the musician suffered from the balcony of the third floor room of the hotel in the Palermo neighborhood where he was staying.
‘In three additional reports of medical-legal considerations, requested by prosecutor Madrea, Maffia Bizzozero and Cohen confirmed, among other points, that all the injuries that Payne presented were compatible with those produced by a fall from a height and that self-harm by any type and/or the physical intervention of third parties. They also highlighted that the victim did not adopt a reflective posture to protect himself during the fall, so, for the moment, it can be inferred that he may have fallen in a state of semi or total unconsciousness.
‘On this point, prosecutor Madrea requested an additional forensic psychiatric report and took a statement from the expert who prepared it. Although other medical history of the victim’s medical history has not yet been analyzed, the phenomenon of the lack of defense or conservation reflex in the fall, together with other data relevant to his consumption, allows us to conclude that Liam Payne was not completely aware. or was in a state of marked diminution or abolition of consciousness at the time of the fall.
‘For the Prosecutor’s Office, this situation would also rule out the possibility of a conscious or voluntary act on the part of the victim, since, in the state he was in, he did not know what he was doing and could not understand it.’
