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Singer and former One Direction member Liam Payne tragically died age 31 exactly one month ago, after falling from a balcony.
In the short weeks since his death on October 16, new information has come to light surrounding the circumstances leading up to the fateful day, including three arrests being made in connection to his passing.
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.’
The Little Things hitmaker was a beloved UK musician after shooting to fame alongside his former bandmates — Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, and Harry Styles — on X Factor in 2014.
The group released a heartbreaking joint statement one day after his passing as well as individual tributes dedicated to their ‘brother’.
Payne leaves behind his son, Bear, seven, who he shares with Cheryl Cole, his parents, Geoff and Karen Payne and his girlfriend, Kate Cassidy.
As the world continues to come to terms with his death, we look at everything we know about his final days and what has since come to light.
When will Liam Payne’s funeral be?
No details surrounding Payne’s funeral have been announced yet, but it’s expected to be a private service at a cathedral in his home town of Wolverhampton in the coming days.
While it’s unclear whether his former bandmates will attend the funeral, The Mirror reported that Cassidy, Cole, and his son will likely attend. Payne’s A-list friends, including James Corden, Nicole Scherzinger, Rita Ora, and former mentor Simon Cowell, may also be in attendance.
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.’
It comes 10 days after his body was released to his family to be flown back to the UK.
Three people arrested in connection to Liam Payne’s death
On November 7, Argentina’s public prosecutor confirmed three people were arrested in connection to Payne’s death. Two hotel workers are 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 heart-broken with this tragedy, and I’ve been missing my friend every day.’
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 in 2015, but following a recent reshuffle, was being managed under the main label.
Days prior to his death however, he was no longer listed as an artist or writer for the label with sources confirming to MailOnline he had been dropped just last week: ‘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
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.
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 passed. 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 band mate.
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 and made accusations that he had been ceaselessly contacting her, using different iCloud accounts to continue to reach out.
A source told People magazine that the former One Direction 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.
She claimed that when she approached him and asked him if he was okay, he distressingly replied: ’I used to be in a boy band – that’s why I’m so f**ked up’.
Payne was also spotted with two woman and a man, who is understood to be Rogelio ‘Roger’ Nores, a friend of the singer who accompanied him during his Argentina stay.
Payne’s alleged behaviour in the hotel in the afternoon caused concern among hotel staff and the Casa Sur Palermo Hotel desk manager called emergency services to request assistance.
The call was made at 5.04pm local time (9.04pm UK time) and heard the manager say: ‘We need to send someone with urgency because I don’t know if the guest’s life is in danger because he is in a room with balcony, and we are afraid he could do something that threatens life.’
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.
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 as the room had a balcony.
‘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 yesterday that the injuries Payne sustained in the fall included a broken skull.
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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