Investigation into Liam Payne's death: New details
New details have emerged in the investigation into Liam Payne's death.
Among the new details, multiples sources with direct knowledge of the investigation told ABC News police have reviewed CCTV footage which appeared to show multiple drug exchanges between a dealer and a hotel employee taking place prior to Payne's death. Sources said police are investigating if the hotel employee provided Payne with drugs.
Payne is also seen twice in CCTV footage sleeping in the hotel lobby with a bottle of whiskey in his hand, the sources told ABC News.
Sources say that police never believed Payne's death was a suicide or that it was intentional.
Previously, sources told ABC News that a partial autopsy also found that he had multiple substances in his system that day, including "pink cocaine" – a recreational drug that typically is a mix of several drugs including methamphetamine, ketamine, MDMA and others – as well as cocaine, benzodiazepine and crack. An improvised aluminum pipe to ingest drugs was also found in his hotel room, according to the sources.
According to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the investigation, police also identified the presence of two female escorts at the hotel in the hours before Payne's death.
Payne offered $5000 USD to two female escorts who were allegedly called by the lobby of the hotel Payne was staying at during his death, via an app. He did not pay the escorts, sources said.
Sources also noted that a Rolex was also found missing from Payne's hotel room.
ABC News has reached out to the hotel for comment.
Payne's body is expected to be handed to his family next week, sources added.
Payne's father, Geoff, has been in Buenos Aires since Oct. 18, trying to repatriate the body of his son for burial in England, according to the British Embassy Officials in Buenos Aires. The release of Payne's body is dependent on the court's findings in the criminal case.
Payne died on Oct. 16 after falling from his third story hotel room, in Palermo, Buenos Aires, according to Argentina state police. He was 31.
Emergency services were called in order to deal with a man acting erratically and perhaps under the influence, Alberto Crescenti, the director of SAME, Buenos Aires Emergency Medical Services, previously told ABC News. Payne's body was found in the inner courtyard of the hotel where he was pronounced dead on the scene, according to Crescenti.
A preliminary autopsy report from the Argentinian Prosecutor's Office revealed on Oct. 17 that Payne died from "multiple traumas" and "internal and external bleeding."
Twenty-five injuries were reported on Payne's body. The report stated that Payne's head injuries were sufficient to cause death and the cause of death was related to the height of his fall.
Argentinian officials raided the hotel on Oct. 23 as part of the ongoing investigation into the late singer's death.
