Tragedy struck the music world when former One Direction heartthrob Liam Payne, aged just 31, tragically passed away on Wednesday, October 16.
The pop sensation fell from the third-floor balcony of the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Liam, thrust into the spotlight as a fresh-faced teen on The X Factor, sadly died after sustaining "serious injuries that were incompatible with life".
The Argentinian officials have been on the case, with police initially saying the beloved dad-of-one had "jumped from the balcony of his room", according to a statement they released to The Associated Press. This chilling update quashes any thoughts of a mishap or criminal involvement.
READ MORE: Liam Payne's 'erratic behaviour ramped up' after girlfriend Kate Cassidy left Argentina
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Yet, whispers now indicate the star, who might have been under the influence, blacked out before the fall. Here's everything we know about the tragedy as fresh details emerge...
'Fainted on CCTV'
While the tragic end of Liam's life is known to have resulted from a fall from his hotel room balcony, authorities are delving into what led to the heartrending incident. Police haven't suggested any foul play by a "third-party".
New reports indicate that the singer might have taken an accidental fall after blacking out on the balcony, with the whole gut-wrenching moment caught on CCTV. Speaking to Socios del Espectaculo on Canal 13, broadcast journo Paula Varela claimed: "There is footage that is not being released to the media with the balcony scene where you see that Liam faints and tragically because of where he is, falls from that balcony. If he had been beside his bed he would have fallen on his bed."
This distressing footage is said to be part of a wider collection of CCTV images currently under examination, and Varela, aged 45, suggests it shows Liam hadn't intentionally leapt off the balcony.
Probe lands on hotel staff member
A night shift worker at Casa Sur Hotel, who had reportedly grown friendly with Liam, is now in the crosshairs of an ongoing probe into the pop star's sudden demise. Argentine broadcast journalist Paula Varela has intimated on a well-watched Argentinian TV programme that the employee, rumoured to have buddied up with Liam, is being scrutinised by investigators endeavouring to determine the source of substances believed to have played a role in his passing on October 16.
On the Argentine TV show Socios del Espectaculo, broadcast on Canal 13, she said: "There's a lad who's being investigated, he was working nights at the hotel. He struck up an excellent relationship with Liam. He disobeyed an order from the hotel management. What was the order he disobeyed? It was not to take anything into Liam's room."
She didn't stop there, adding: "Because of the good relationship he had with Liam, he requested a car through one of these taxi apps we all use because Liam wanted something. He did him that favour, a massive error because he's being investigated, and they're seeing what was transferred in that vehicle."
Nicole Scherzinger's text messages
Back in 2010, Nicole Scherzinger was pivotal in creating the global sensation One Direction and stayed in contact with Liam Payne right up until his tragic passing. Andrew Lloyd Webber, who worked closely with Nicole on the Broadway hit Sunset Blvd, has now shared some poignant details. Speaking to Billboard, he revealed: "I suppose something that hasn't been said, and I suppose I could say, is that of course she mentored Liam, from One Direction."
He went on to disclose: "On the Wednesday when he died, she was still texting him that day."
Despite the heartbreaking news, Nicole still took to the stage as Norma Desmond in the Broadway show, showing her professionalism.
He gushed: "The fact that she even did the show at all is extraordinary. I mean, she is an amazing, amazing woman. She is without any question one of the finest performers I've ever worked with."
Nicole has since paid her respects to Liam, posting a picture of them together with Kelly Rowland during their latest project. "Dear Liam, I will forever cherish and treasure the time we shared together, from fifteen years ago when One Direction was born, right up until just a few weeks ago," she wrote.
"It was such a blessing to get to work with you recently. We shared the same love and passion for music and I will forever remember the meaningful and joyful conversations we had."
'Ex-girlfriend at the same hotel'
The hotel boss who rang the emergency services before Liam tragically fell to his death has spilled the beans that the singer's "ex-partner" was also at the scene. Chatting to an Argentinian TV show, Esteban Grassi revealed: "He was seen alone but his ex-partner was around."
Probed on whether "she was staying at the hotel too" during the El Trece programme Telenoche, he confirmed: "Yes," and added: "A floor above, yes." Snippets of the chat have surfaced online and are buzzing in other Argentinian news circles.
Who Mr Grassi was hinting at remains a mystery. He's believed to be one of three hotel staff members that prosecutors said they'd grilled.
Mystery hotel women
In the hours preceding his tragic demise, he was in the company of Aldana Serrano, 31, and Lucila Goitea, 27, at the Casa Sur Hotel. The group checked into the posh hotel around 11.30am local time on Wednesday and proceeded to Liam's suite.
However, they departed five hours later at 4pm merely an hour before Liam sadly plummeted from his balcony. It is reported that during Liam's last moments, he was engaged in a dispute with an unidentified woman in the hotel lobby over money.
He tragically fell 45ft, landing in the hotel's inner courtyard.
Prosecutors confirmed that they had interrogated five individuals, including two women who were with Liam in the hours leading up to his death for a "reconstruction of his last hours". She further stated: "He was with two women in his room where there was access to drugs. I'm not going to say their surnames.
"[Woman A] gave a statement last night and [Woman B] has just finished hers."
The women are believed to have exited the hotel prior to Liam's fatal fall and have been labelled as "key witnesses" in local media coverage, rather than suspects in his death. Now, it is reported that Serrano and Goitea are "devastated".
A friend told the Sunday Mirror: "They have been cooperative from the moment they found out Liam died. They have told police they did nothing wrong and left well before he fell. The two girls have vowed to continue help investigators and have said they will speak to police at any time."
'Out of place' antics
A girl, known only as Rebecca, who had a chat with Liam for about half an hour in the hotel foyer, described him as "desperate" to be noticed. She recounted how he blurted out his name, yelling "I'm Liam", to a bunch of guests lined up for the elevator, who were seemingly unimpressed by his identity.
She mentioned that Liam came back to the foyer with his laptop in tow.
Guessing that he'd seen an email that "upset" him, Rebecca said: "Suddenly he took the computer, shouted 'f**k this s**t mate! ' and started bashing the computer on the ground."
The crooner's "out of place" behaviour left the patrons of the "high-end" hotel gobsmacked, but a worried Rebecca asked if he was alright.
She detailed: "But he just kind of grunted. Then he said 'I used to be in a boyband. That's why I'm so f**ked up'."
Stunned by his confession, she watched him hop back into the lift, before a "British guy" made amends to the crowd on "his behalf", explaining Liam "gets so high" at times. She added that he stumbled when he came back to the foyer, with the staff assisting him into the elevator.
Just hours prior to his tragic passing, the performer shared with his dear mate, Jodie Richardswho also happened to be his ex-drama tutor at Pink Productionsthat his morning was quite laid-back, without hinting any worry. The truly unique celeb had a Wednesday chinwag with her and she initially pegged the chatter about his demise as complete tosh.
Chatting away via text that very morning with Liam, 41-years-young Jodie recalled the panic when she later tried ringing and texting him non-stop. She noted: "He was looking forward to his day, he said he was having a chill, nothing seemed out of the ordinary."
She remarked on how he was always off somewhere more glitzy than back home, be it LA or Argentina, meaning she'd often need to clock the time zones to catch up with him. "He seemed fine, he looked happy, he looked healthy - no reason for any kind of concern and then obviously I heard it on the news."
Talking to Sky News, she confessed: "I thought it was fake news, I tried to phone him. Obviously he wasn't answering. I tried to text him, it wasn't going to a 'read' message - normally it does quite quickly, then as I turned the telly on it was getting more and more apparent it wasn't fake."
Frantic 911 call
It's thought that the 31-year-old was under the influence, according to local news outlets. Hotel staff made a frantic call to emergency services, pleading for 'urgent' help, with the receptionist saying on the line: "We have a guest who's off his head on drugs and is destroying everything in his room. We need someone to come."
After the call cut off, the worried receptionist added: "I don't know if the guest's life is in danger. The room has a balcony and we are afraid he might do something."
In a distressing turn, seconds later, the receptionist urgently requested: "Just send an ambulance. Only an ambulance."
Local witnesses have suggested that Liam suffered a "psychotic episode" just before his tragic passing. An office worker near the Casa Sur hotel reported that the hotel's masseuse described Liam as behaving wildly.
One Direction enthusiast Josefina revealed to America TV: "I was working in an office next to the hotel when we started hearing lots of sirens and lots of noise. A colleague went down to see what was happening and was able to speak to the hotel masseuse who said there was a man being aggressive who was breaking things and was having what appeared to be a psychotic episode and looked like he was out of it on drugs."
'Violent' noises
Guests at the hotel were rattled by "loud" and "violent" noises emanating from Liam's room in the hour leading up to his tragic passing. Chatting to the BBC after the hair-raising ordeal, hotel resident Doug Jones dished: "I thought they were working on the room. There was a lot of noise, like heavy lifting, like banging, a lot of loud, violent noises, I thought."
Then Doug caught a glimpse of hotel staffers buzzing around the suite believed to have been occupied by Liam Payne. He said: "I saw hotel people going in and out of that room, so I thought they were doing work on the room."
Alas, the ruckus kicked off again: "So about 4pm, 4.30pm, I started hearing some more noise, I was still doing work," he relayed. "I heard a really loud, violent scream around 4.45pm, 5pm."
Police made it onsite just shy of 5pm, but heard a thunderous crash from the courtyard as they got there, precisely at 5.04pm. Not long after, the tourist saw the "road full of cops," as the full extent of the calamity began to unravel.
A look through Liam's hotel room by the police revealed "what appeared to be narcotics, alcohol, destroyed objects and furniture".
'Pink cocaine'
After Liam's tragic departure, authorities conveyed he might have been "in a state of semi or total unconsciousness" during an intense 'psychotic episode' caused by substances, which led to his fatal tumble.
There was also the suggestion Liam had a medley of drugs including party drug 'pink cocaine' containing a mix of MDMA, ketamine, methamphetamine and also crack and chill-pills benzodiazepine coursing through him, as per early post-mortem reports.
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