Two months after his death, the investigation surrounding Liam Payne’s fatal fall at a Buenos Aires hotel continues to unravel. According to new documents obtained by Rolling Stone, the judge in the case has charged two workers, including the receptionist head, who called 911, as she investigates them for wrongful death. The judge has also called for all suspects in the case to be questioned as part of the investigation.
According to Monday’s filing, the judge on the case listed the CasaSur Palermo manager and its receptionist head, who called 911, as “imputados,” or “people charged” in the case. The judge is investigating them for homicidio culposo or “wrongful death,” Rolling Stone confirms. The two workers are being investigated for possible “imprudence, negligence, or lack of skill in [their] profession” leading to the death of another person, according to the statute.
“Since there is sufficient reason to suspect that they have participated in the investigated act, we ask that the following people give a statement,” reads Monday’s filing before listing each person associated with the case.
Two individuals accused of serving Payne drugs will be interrogated on Dec. 17 at 10 and 11 a.m., respectively. Payne’s friend, accused of abandonment of a person followed by death, will be questioned on Dec. 18 at 10 a.m. Both hotel employees will also face the court on Dec. 19 at 10 and 11 a.m. The suspects may refuse to answer questions or offer written statements via their attorneys. According to the Buenos Aires judicial system, after the interrogation, the judge must determine whether the defendants should be further prosecuted, dropped from the case, or if there isn’t evidentiary support for either decision.
As of Tuesday morning, the reception head continued working at the CasaSur hotel. He made two 911 calls around the time Payne died on Oct. 16. In one call, he mentioned to the dispatcher that a guest had “too many drugs and alcohol” and was “trashing the entire room.” In a second call, he warned that the guest’s life “may be in danger.”
At one point in the second call, the receptionist asks, “Are you sending the police as well, or not?” After the dispatcher mentions that yes, the police would join the SAME, Argentina’s emergency medical services, too, he responds, “No, no, just the SAME. Just the SAME.”
Payne died of multiple traumas, internal and external bleeding, and a cranial injury as a result of a fall from the third floor of the CasaSur hotel in Palermo Hollywood on Oct 16. Three people — a friend of Payne, a hotel worker, and an alleged drug dealer — are currently being investigated in relation to his death.
The new update comes several days after an attorney for Payne’s friend accused the prosecution of “serious irregularities” in a filing obtained by Rolling Stone, which claimed that the prosecutors had failed to review footage for a camera near the site where Payne hit the ground. The filing also alleged that the prosecutor met with the manager of the hotel restaurant, which had access to said camera, in private. “Given everything shown, it’s clear that there has not been a serious, profound, nor, at least until now, a serious investigation,” read the filing.
Several weeks after his death, prosecutors identified alcohol, cocaine, and a prescribed antidepressant in Payne’s system at the time of his death, according to a toxicology report.
The new investigation update comes several weeks after Payne was laid to rest at a private funeral service where his One Direction members, along with his girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, and his parents, were in attendance. Earlier this week, Payne’s girlfriend shared a 90-second TikTok video of the pair with the caption, “I love you.”
This story was updated on Dec. 12 at 5:45 p.m. ET to include mention of the “wrongful death” charge investigation to two hotel employees.
From Rolling Stone US
