Five Charged In Connection To Mysterious Death Of One Direction Singer Liam Payne

It’s been two months since the One Direction singer Liam Payne died under strange circumstances at the age of 31 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Now, five men have been charged with his death, including a close friend of the performer.

Five Charged After Payne’s Death

Payne died on October 16 when he apparently from the balcony of his third floor room at a hotel Buenos Aires. His body was found just after 5 p.m. at the Casa Sur hotel in the Palermo district of the South American city.

Five men have since been charged in connection with Payne’s death. One of them is Payne’s friend Roger Nores, who has been hit with a manslaughter charge. Also charged with manslaughter are Esteban Grassi, a receptionist at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel, and Gilda Martin, the hotel’s head of security.

Meanwhile, the additional two men facing charges over Payne’s death are local waiter Braian Paiz and CasaSur employee Ezequiel Pereyra. They have each been charged with helping to supply Payne with drugs multiple times in the days before his passing.

Find out more about this in the video below.

Major Investigation Into Payne’s Death

This comes after Argentina’s National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office said last month that “several dozen testimonies were received at the headquarters of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, including from hotel staff, family members and friends, medical professionals, biochemists and psychiatrists.”

Investigators also looked at over 800 hours of video footage from various hotel security cameras and public roads. On top of that, they accessed data from Payne’s cellphone that included calls, messages and chats on messaging applications and social networks.

Officials “analyzed testimonies, video recordings, messages, documents, invoices, social networks and communications, among other elements.” After looking into all of this, it was found that at least four supplies of narcotics from third parties were “conclusively proven” to have been given to Payne during his stay at the Casa Sur hotel between Oct. 13-16. Cocaine was found to be in Payne’s system at the time of his death.

🚨UPDATE: Five individuals have been arrested in connection with Liam Payne's death, charged with manslaughter and supplying drugs, including his friend and a waiter. https://t.co/8XDa9wgUia pic.twitter.com/BlR0m0ZnSj
— Kacee Allen (@KaceeRAllen) December 30, 2024

Payne’s History

Payne skyrocketed to international fame back in 2010 as part of the five-member boy band One Direction. The group was formed on the British talent show X Factor. The other members of One Direction are Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik.

While they didn’t win the show, coming in third place instead, One Direction still scored a record deal with Syco Records, which is run by X Factor judge Simon Cowell. Indeed, One Direction’s first four albums debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200. The group’s 2014 tour to support their “Midnight Memories” album made $290 million, making it the highest-grossing tour of the year.

One Direction went on an indefinite hiatus in 2016, with each member embarking on solo careers. Payne later released his first full-length solo album, titled LP1, in 2019. Back in March of this year, Payne released his first single in three years, which he called “Teardrops.”

The surviving members of One Direction reunited for Payne’s funeral. Find out more about that in the video below.

Payne left behind a 7 year-old son Bear, who he shared with his ex-wife, the former X Factor judge Cheryl Cole. Please join us in saying a prayer for Payne’s loved ones as they continue to mourn his loss.