'Further revelations' expected as three charged in connection with Liam Payne's death
The British singer died after falling from a third-floor balcony in Buenos Aires in October, at the age of 31 as Good Morning Britain's Polly Bartlett reports
Three people have been arrested and charged in connection with Liam Payne's death, with prosecutors ruling out "self-harm" as a cause.
The former One Direction singer died aged 31 after falling from the third-floor balcony at a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, last month.
Illicit substances were found in his hotel room after his death and three people have been charged with the crimes of abandonment of a person after their death, supply and facilitation of narcotics, Argentina's public prosecution office said.
"This has been an incredibly rigorous investigation," Valen Iricibar, the editor of the Buenos Aires Herald told ITV News. "There has been full co-operation from all the suspects and we're expecting further revelations down the line."
Prosecutors said one of the accused was accompanying the singer on a daily basis in Argentina while another was an employee at the hotel where Payne was staying. The third person allegedly supplied drugs.
Nine raids have also been ordered on properties in Buenos Aires and the investigation continues with some of Payne’s devices still being analysed.
The forensic report also said there is nothing to indicate any third-party involvement in his death - and that the singer "was not fully conscious or was experiencing a state of noticeable decrease or loss of consciousness at the time of the fall.”
The statement, translated into English, said: “Although other medical background information from the victim’s clinical history must still be analysed, the phenomenon of the lack of defence or self-preservation reflex in the fall, together with other relevant data from his consumption, allow us to conclude that Liam Payne was not fully conscious or was experiencing a state of noticeable decrease or loss of consciousness at the time of the fall.”
The office also said it had completed a detailed analysis of more than 800 hours of video footage from security cameras and obtained several dozen testimonies from hotel staff, family members, friends and medical professionals.
According to the post-mortem examination, Payne died from multiple injuries as well as internal and external bleeding caused by the fall.His body was found in the hotel’s internal courtyard.
After Payne’s death, police also found destroyed objects and furniture in his hotel room, according to the public prosecutor’s office.
Payne was in Argentina to see fellow One Direction singer and bandmate Niall Horan’s gig at the Movistar Arena in Buenos Aires.
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