New security footage of Liam Payne‘s final moments shows he was trying to escape his hotel room via the balcony in the moments prior to his death — and hotel workers allegedly knew it!
It’s been over a month since the One Direction star fell to his death from a fourth-story balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires on October 16. Officials have already ruled this was not suicide, though they have noted it’s likely that the 31-year-old was not awake and aware at the moment when he fell as he was on a lot of drugs that were causing him to go in and out of consciousness.
Thanks to witnesses, a police report, a 911 call, and a surveillance video, though, authorities now have an even better idea of what went down in the singer’s last moments — and it is truly heartbreaking. No, they don’t think he was trying to put himself in harm’s way… they actually think he was trying to escape!
According to sources with direct knowledge who spoke to TMZ on Monday, the What Makes You Beautiful artist hated being locked up in hotel rooms, which was something he had to put up with a lot in his 1D days. He often used the balcony escape to get away back in his youth — and that was even something he reportedly did in mid-September, too. At the time, Liam’s bodyguard had been concerned that he was on a drug binge and forced him inside a room in a Florida rental home. Liam escaped from a balcony by using a garden hose to reach the ground. Whoa. That was just weeks before his death, too.
Harrowing hotel security footage on the day of Liam’s death shows he was being disruptive in the lobby while presumably under the influence. At one point, he was carried to his room by three hotel workers. However, at that point, he appeared to be conscious — and just two minutes prior, he’d been seen standing upright in the lobby.
When the hotel workers eventually got Liam to his room, he struggled with them — clearly, he didn’t want to be locked inside! But they used a master key to get into the room and put him inside. Then, per a police report, they removed a mirror from the wall directly outside his room, likely to keep it from getting damaged.
The report noted it was clear that the pop star told the employees he didn’t want to be in the room and would use the balcony as an escape. That’s because minutes later, one of the employees called 911, expressing fears that the guest would use the balcony and hurt himself. They said via translation:
“I don’t know whether his life may be in danger. He is in a room with a balcony, and, well, we’re a little afraid …”
Jeez. Regardless of these worries, they left him inside, and Liam gathered up his stuff and made a break for it. He was found with a bag strapped around his shoulder and a hat on. Those were things he didn’t have with him in the lobby, meaning he put them on in his room before he got onto the balcony.
Police also determined that Liam was likely trying to get from his third-floor room to the second-floor balcony before making the final short jump to the ground. Why do they think this? Well, two days after his death, a hotel employee went to the second-floor room below Liam’s and found a brown leather bag on the balcony — not the one Liam was found dead with — and it included a note inside that read, “for Liam.” WTF? Inside the bag were various pills and a bottle of Jack Daniel’s. The police report noted the bag belonged to the Teardrops vocalist.
The theory is he dropped it to the second floor before attempting to jump into the lower balcony. However, it’s possible that once he started this escape plan, he became unconscious, leading to the fatal fall. Oof.
One source with knowledge of the situation told the outlet that Argentinian authorities are trying to protect the hotel, which is why they’re going after three people — a friend, a waiter, and a now-fired hotel worker who allegedly supplied the musician with drugs. However, the source believes the hotel should be held responsible for allegedly caring more about the lobby disruption than protecting Liam’s safety.
Just think what could have happened if they’d kept him in the lobby while they called for backup. Or, at the very least, not sent him into his room alone when they feared for his life (and had a master key they could have used to get inside and help protect him). Things didn’t need to end like this…
As to be expected, when TMZ contacted the hotel, all they had to say was “no comment.” The more that is uncovered about this death, the more heartbreaking it gets. Our hearts go out to his loved ones. We cannot imagine how difficult this news must be for them to process.
