Argentinean investigators are questioning two women who were in Liam Payne’s hotel room hours before his fatal balcony fall Wednesday evening, Page Six has learned.
The country’s National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement we obtained on Thursday that officials have taken testimonies from five different people related to the matter, including the two women and three hotel workers.
The prosecutor’s office said the two women “had been with the musician in his room” at CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires in the “hours prior” to his death “but had already left the hotel when the incident occurred.”
They added that their investigation is in part “aimed at determining the possible intervention of third parties in the events prior to the death of the victim.”
However, they made sure to stress that “everything indicates that the musician was alone when the fall occurred, and was going through some kind of outbreak due to substance abuse.”
Investigators believe Payne, 31, was likely in a “state of semi or unconsciousness” when he fell from the third-floor balcony of the room where he had been staying; “due to the position in which the body was left and the injuries from the fall, it is presumed that Payne did not adopt a reflex posture to protect himself.”
Additionally, forensic experts analyzed the former One Direction member’s hands and did not find “defensive injuries.” They estimated that all the injuries found on his body were “vital and produced at the same time as each other, and that no injuries were observed that would suggest the intervention of third parties.”
Officers who responded to the scene found in the singer-songwriter’s room “substances that at first glance — and pending confirmation of the expert reports — would be narcotics and alcoholic beverages, as well as several destroyed objects and furniture,” according to the prosecutor’s office.
Photos obtained by Argentinian news outlet La Nación showed apparent drugs, paraphernalia and alcohol scattered throughout the trashed suite.
Investigators said Payne was likely under the influence at the time of his fall.
Prior to the fall, the “X Factor” alum had been acting “erratically” on the premises, prompting hotel employees to escort him back up to his room.
The hotel manager then called 911 and explained that he feared Payne would harm himself because of his state of mind.
By the time police arrived, “Payne had already fallen from the balcony of his room and died on the spot due to the severity of his injuries,” the prosecutor’s office said.
Forensic experts “pointed out that the cranial brain injuries were sufficiently suitable to cause death, while the internal and external hemorrhages in the skull, thorax, abdomen and limbs contributed to the mechanism of death.”
Payne — who struggled with mental health issues and addiction — had been on vacation with his girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, who left Argentina on Monday.
Days before his death — which is being investigated as “suspicious” — Payne’s ex-fiancée, Maya Henry, reportedly accused him of obsessive contact and began taking legal action against him, which is said to have left him “extremely overwhelmed.”
According to Henry, Payne “would always play with death” and used it as as a “manipulation tactic.”
The UK native is survived by his 7-year-old son, Bear, whom he shares with his ex-girlfriend Cheryl Cole.