The first two suspects summoned for questioning by the judge investigating Liam Payne‘s fatal fall from a third-floor hotel balcony have declined to testify.
Alleged dealer Braian Nahuel Paiz and Ezequiel David Pereyra, a former employee at the Buenos Aires hotel where the singer lost his life, said they were ‘retaining their right to remain silent’ during yesterday’s hearing in front of Laura Bruniard.
Following a police investigation, both defendants were charged with the crime of supplying narcotics for payment, which could lead to a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
Under Argentinian law, the judge has 10 days after questioning the pair to decide whether to formalise the charges, at which point they could be remanded in custody or released on bail pending a trial. Alternatively, she could decide not to formalise the charges and release them.
Braian had told an Argentine TV journalist last month he had taken marijuana and the former One Direction star snorted cocaine during a rendezvous at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel, where Payne was staying shortly before his death.
But Braian insisted in his interview with Guillermo Panizza on Telefe Noticias: ‘I never took drugs to him or accepted any money.’
Pereyra, 21, identified locally as the hotel worker suspected of delivering drugs to Liam in a Dove soap box, has made no public comment so far since it emerged he had been placed under formal investigation.
Argentinian media are reporting the court quizzes will continue and finish tomorrow when the singer’s close friend Rogelio ‘Roger’ Nores, hotel chief receptionist Esteban Grassi and head of security Gilda Martin are questioned.
A photo showing Braian Nahuel Paiz with Liam Payne, allegedly during their first arranged meeting at a hotel
Payne’s last post on Snapchat before he fell to his death from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires
A drone view shows the balcony on the CasaSur Hotel from where Payne fell to his death
Mr Nores told a TMZ documentary examining Payne’s death that he was ‘in good spirits and perfectly balanced’ the day he died as he refuted claims the singer was intoxicated and acting erratically shortly before his October 16 fatal fall from his third-floor hotel balcony.
The businessman, fighting accusations he abandoned his pal before his death amid claims he was Payne’s ‘de facto’ manager, has previously protested his innocence after being named locally as one of the men under investigation.
He said in a statement last month: ‘I never abandoned Liam, I went to his hotel three times that day and left 40 minutes before this happened.
‘There were over 15 people at the hotel lobby chatting and joking with him when I left. I could have never imagined something like this would happen.
‘I gave my statement to the prosecutor on October 17 as a witness and I haven’t spoken to any police officer or prosecutor ever since.
‘I wasn’t Liam’s manager. He was just my very dear friend.’
Mr Grassi and Mr Martin have been identified as two of the three men pictured carrying Payne back up to his room from his hotel lobby shortly before his fall.
The chief receptionist, who made an emergency 911 call moments before the 31-year-old singer died, has not made any public comment since being named as one of the suspects.
Braian Nahuel Paiz’s tribute to Payne, which read: ‘Fly high, Chief. Thank you for having enlightened me and for crossing you into my reality. I will always remember you’
But leaked texts he has submitted to investigators point to Payne asking a bellboy at the Casasur Palermo Hotel for cocaine shortly after he checked in – and calling him ‘useless’ when he told him he was unable to help.
The senior hotel worker also claimed the singer rang reception repeatedly, especially at night, to request alcohol and ask where he could buy cocaine.
All five men currently under official investigation are set to learn early in the New Year whether they will be prosecuted.
Prosecutors said in a lengthy statement released on November 7 before the number of suspects increased to five that three men they did not identify by name were being formally investigated on suspicion of abandoning a person who subsequently died and supplying and facilitating drugs.
The statement described one as the person who ‘routinely accompanied Liam during his stay in Buenos Aires’.
Tests have shown the singer binged on alcohol and cocaine before he died and also had traces of an antidepressant in his system.
Prosecutors also made it clear the idea Payne had committed suicide had been ruled out and said he was in a state of ‘semi or total unconsciousness’ as he fell to his death from his hotel balcony when he ‘didn’t know what he was doing.’
They said of the hotel worker and the alleged ‘drug dealer’: ‘The second suspect is a hotel employee who must respond for two proven supplies of cocaine to Liam Payne during the time he was in the hotel.
Paiz has admitted to two hotel meetings with the 31-year-old
The singer at the ‘All Of Those Voices’ UK Premiere at Cineworld Leicester Square on March 16, 2023
‘The third is also a drug dealer who is being investigated on suspicion of another two clearly proven supplies of cocaine at two different times on October 14.’
The recent publication of the last photo of Payne, showing him being carried back up to his room from his hotel lobby shortly before his fall by three men said to include Mr Grassi, has led to speculation in Argentine media that the court investigation could eventually become a manslaughter probe.
Horrified tourist Bret Watson, who saw Payne fall to his death, revealed to TMZ earlier this week the tragedy will forever remain ‘burned into his brain.’
Public prosecutors in Argentina have yet to make any official comment about the court quizzes that have taken place so far and no more details have emerged about the decision of the first two suspects to stay silent.
It was not immediately clear this morning if Mr Paiz would be remanded in custody. Earlier this month it emerged prosecutors had successfully challenged an earlier decision not to put him behind bars ahead of possible charges.
Reports at the time said a final decision on whether the 24-year-old would be sent to jail pending the ongoing probe was expected to be taken after he was questioned.