Liam Payne: Official investigation report released

Argentine police have released a statement regarding One Direction singer Liam Payne, who died on October 16 in Buenos Aires. In it, the authority confirms what had recently been reported by several British and US media outlets. According to the police report, three people have now been charged. They are accused of “neglect of a person resulting in death as well as the supply and distribution of narcotics.”

The first unnamed person was someone who “accompanied the artist on a daily basis during his stay in the city of Buenos Aires.” A statement, , suggests that it could be Argentine businessman Rogelio Nores. He assured the British media: “I didn’t abandon Liam. I drove to his hotel three times that day and left 40 minutes before it happened.” He also claims: “There were more than 15 people in the hotel lobby talking and joking with him when I left.”

According to the police report, the person accused of “neglect resulting in death” faces “a sentence of 5 to 15 years in prison” if convicted, according to the police report.

The second person is a hotel employee “who has to answer for two proven cocaine deliveries to Liam Payne during his stay at the hotel.” The third defendant is “also a drug supplier who is accused of two other clearly proven deliveries during two different cases”.

Extensive investigations led to the charges. Since Payne’s death, “more than 800 hours of video footage from various hotel surveillance cameras and other cameras on public streets” have been viewed. “It was also possible to forensically extract the contents of the deceased musician’s cell phone. From this, calls, messages, chats in messaging applications and social networks were analyzed.”

The results of the toxicology report were also reported in the report. These revealed that Payne had consumed alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant several times in the 72 hours before his death.

Through detailed investigations, it was determined that “the victim did not adopt a reflexive position to protect himself during the fall, so it can be assumed for the time being that he may have fallen into a state of semi-consciousness or complete unconsciousness.” The public prosecutor’s office therefore assumes that it can “rule out the possibility of a conscious or voluntary act on the part of the victim.”

Authorities released the singer’s body to Payne’s family on November 6. After the transfer, Payne’s funeral will reportedly take place shortly at Saint Paul’s Church in his native Wolverhampton.