Liam Payne: Three people charged after One Direction star’s death

Investigators are convinced that former One Direction singer Liam Payne’s fatal fall from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires was not suicide. A “conscious act” by the singer can be ruled out; he was not fully conscious due to his drug consumption, the public prosecutor said. When the 31-year-old fell from the balcony three weeks ago, he neither knew what he was doing nor understood the consequences of his actions because of his condition.

According to the prosecution, forensic examinations found traces of alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant in Payne’s body. There was no mention of any other substances.

Three men have now been charged in connection with Payne’s death. Among other things, they are said to have supplied him with drugs, as the public prosecutor announced. The judge in charge informed the defendants of the allegations and banned them from leaving Argentina.

One of the accused is a hotel employee. The other is said to have been a friend and constant companion of Payne in Buenos Aires. He is accused of abandoning Payne in a helpless situation and thus becoming complicit. The public prosecutor’s office did not comment on the identity of the third defendant – according to media reports, he was a cleaner who worked in the hotel.

The ex-singer of the British boy band One Direction fell from a balcony on the third floor of the hotel on October 16th. According to previous information from prosecutors, Payne may have been going through a crisis over drug and alcohol use. The investigators had previously explained that the musician did not reflexively try to protect himself. It can therefore be assumed that he was partially or completely unconscious when he fell.

The singer’s body was handed over to Payne’s father last weekend with the approval of the judiciary, as the public prosecutor’s office has now announced. She has since been transferred to London, according to the Argentine newspaper Clarin.