Unseen photos from police files have emerged two years after Liam Payne's death, offering a new theory about his final hours. The One Direction star, 31, died in October 2024 after falling 46ft from a third-floor hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Payne had been in Argentina for 16 days awaiting a US visa renewal. He spent most of the trip with girlfriend Kate Cassidy and businessman Rogelio "Roger" Nores, reportedly sober for the first two weeks until Cassidy returned to Miami on October 14. After allegedly damaging his room and confronting hotel staff, he moved from the Park Hyatt to the CasaSur Palermo Hotel.
Police Files Released
Documents, photographs, sworn statements, and official reports gathered by investigators have now been shared. A heartbreaking CCTV image shows Payne, hollow-eyed and drawn, stumbling through corridors just one hour before his death. His father, Geoff, stated in a sworn declaration: "He was not in control with what he did. He was not Liam."
Allegedly, Payne called the front desk asking for drugs and ordered multiple bottles of Johnnie Walker Black label whisky from room service. Hotel manager Gilda Martin wrote in a WhatsApp chat: "This person is going to be very intense throughout his stay." She added: "It's important that we tell him 'no', always kindly and with excuses. This is to stop him from continuing to be aggressive."
Escorts' Account
Payne contacted two escorts after finding one's profile online. They arrived at 11:30am, showed ID, and were allowed to his room. They claimed they had consensual sex with him once, using protection. After two hours, they asked for payment; he offered his Rolex, which he smashed when they refused. One woman said: "We told him we only wanted money so he took it and smashed it. He told us he didn't care about the money. And then he broke the TV, he punched it."
Photos show the room in "carnage": sheets pulled off, blood streaks on the bathroom sink, and drug paraphernalia, including burned Coca-Cola can lids, a blackened spoon, and half-burned candles. Police believe Payne heated powdered cocaine into a liquid form to snort or inject.
Final Hours and New Theory
CCTV shows Payne pacing while the escorts left at 3:30pm. His friend Roger arrived at 4pm, but left after 40 minutes, saying Payne did not seem impaired. Fifty minutes later, Payne was dead. Roger was initially charged with abandoning him, but all charges were dropped. Three suspects have been cleared, while two accused of selling cocaine to Payne are in plea negotiations.
A grainy photo from the police files shows Payne in a green top and grey jeans, swinging around a pole outside the hotel at 3:21am on the day he died. A source close to the investigation said police consider the picture 'highly significant' because it showed his upper body strength. This suggests he may have been trying to climb out of his hotel room, confident he could hold his weight, before losing his grip and falling.
