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3 people face charges as his body returns to UK

Posted on by Kennedy
3 people face charges as his body returns to UK

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Three people have been charged in connection with the death of 31-year-old singer Liam Payne on October 16 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

On Thursday, the local prosecutor's office announced that the investigation into the circumstances of the former One Direction star's fall from a hotel balcony resulted in three suspects being criminally charged “with the offenses of abandonment of a person after death, delivery and Mediation of narcotics”.

Prosecutor Andrés Esteban Madrea, head of Argentina's National Criminal and Penitentiary Prosecutor's Office, said in the statement that one of the suspects was a person who allegedly accompanied Payne on a daily basis during his time in the city of Buenos Aires. The second person is a hotel employee who is accused of supplying the singer with cocaine during his stay, and the third person is said to have supplied drugs twice on October 14, two days before Payne's death.

After a more than two-week investigation involving raids, cell phone analysis and toxicology tests, Payne's body was returned to his father, Geoff Payne, who had flown to Argentina after his son's death.

Alcohol, cocaine, antidepressants found in Payne's system; No foul play suspected

The internal and external injuries Payne suffered were the result of his fall from a third-story balcony, and third-party involvement has been ruled out, according to Madrea. Tests showed Payne had traces of alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant. Investigators believe he was in a state of partial or complete unconsciousness and ruled out the possibility that the fall was voluntary.

The statement said: “From the beginning of the investigation and within a few days, comprehensive and careful measures were taken to understand the circumstances of the artist's death.” According to the statement, this included several dozen witness statements, including hotel employees, family and friends, medical professionals, Biochemist and psychiatrist.

“A detailed analysis of more than 800 hours of video footage from various surveillance cameras in the hotel and others on public streets was also carried out,” the statement said.

In investigating what led to Payne's death, Argentine authorities “conducted the forensic extraction of the contents of (Payne's) cell phone. Their calls, messages, chats in messaging applications and social networks were then analyzed.”

Payne rose to global fame as part of the now-disbanded pop group One Direction, which was formed in 2010 as part of the British show The X-Factor. The band also included Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson.

Their first single, “What Makes You Beautiful,” became a worldwide hit, and after releasing five albums in five years, the band went on an indefinite hiatus in 2016 following their fifth album, “Made in the AM.”

All members – including Malik, who left the group in March 2015 – pursued solo careers.

Payne is survived by his seven-year-old child Bear, whom he shared with British singer Cheryl Cole. his parents, Karen and Geoff Payne; and his sisters Ruth Gibbins and Nicola Payne.

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