Argentine businessman Roger Nores insists he had nothing to do with the death of his ‘very good friend’ Liam Payne after the One Direction star fell from a third-floor balcony in Buenos Aires in October.
Mr Nores is believed to be one of five people under investigation by authorities following the singer’s death from traumatic head injuries.
Argentine prosecutors suspect him of abandoning Payne before he died; four other people believed to be employees of the CasaSur Palermo hotel have also been placed under investigation in connection with Payne’s death.
But Nores – who had previously denied being a person of interest in the case – claims Liam was ‘playful, happy and fine’ when he left him an hour before he fell.
‘He was in good spirits, he was talking to 10 or 15 Americans that were here for a wedding,’ he tells TMZ, which has produced a new documentary examining who bears responsibility for the pop star and father-of-one’s shocking death.
‘He was perfectly balanced, talking to everybody, having fun, laughing, so nothing out of the ordinary. So that’s when I said, ‘bye’.
‘He seemed playful and happy. I went to the hotel three times to check on him. He seemed tipsy but nothing out of the ordinary.’
Eyewitnesses, however, claim Liam was not ‘coherent’ and appeared to be under the influence.
Roger Nores has denied being responsible for the death of One Direction singer Liam Payne, claiming the star was ‘playful’ in the hours before he died
Mr Nores reportedly met Liam Payne in 2020 and had been pictured with him in Argentina before the singer died
Liam Payne and Roger Nores are pictured here in West Hollywood in June this year
And prosecutors have obtained a text allegedly sent by Liam to Nores asking him if he can get drugs. The message allegedly reads: ‘Can you get 6 grams?’
A guest at the hotel, Bret Watson, said Liam had looked more and more intoxicated as the day went on.
Prosecutors claim Nores failed to look after his friend in the hours before he died. Nores has previously been accused of controlling Liam’s spending and granted him access to alcohol and drugs.
The energy magnate was photographed with Payne in Buenos Aires, including at the concert for his former bandmate Niall Horan.
According to Page Six, Mr Nores had been aware of Liam’s issues with drugs, and had emailed Liam’s father Geoff and his management team about the issue
He said: ‘Liam stayed at my friend’s ranch down in Palm Beach and since the first day he arrived he was monitored and treated by professional doctors who specialise in addictions.
‘He stayed fully clean without access to any hard drug (sic) during his whole stay.
‘The plan was for him to work on the preparation for a music tour and stay healthy and busy with work. A plan he successfully followed during his whole stay in the US.’
But he continued: ‘I’m really concerned for his wellbeing while he is out there and I hope you can bring professional doctors to check on his health regularly as soon as possible as I did while he was out in the US.
I am going to stay fully out of the picture and disconnected from now on and I wish you all the best with Liam’s health and career.’
Last month, Argentine media claimed a Miami-based psychologist had written to Mr Nores in September to advise that Liam was ‘impossible’ to treat because of his recurring mental health crises.
She had also warned of the dangers of mixing alcohol and sertraline, an antidepressant also known as Zoloft.
Toxicology tests found Payne had alcohol, cocaine and sertraline in his system when he died.
Liam’s father, Geoff Payne, submitted the email to the court for prosecutors.
Roger Nores in the TMZ Investigates documentary, in which he claims Liam Payne was well at the time he left the hotel
Liam Payne died after falling from the balcony of his hotel room in Buenos Aires in October
Argentine businessman Rogelio ‘Roger’ Nores, who has been accused by prosecutors of abandoning Payne before his death. He insists Payne was fine when he left the hotel
Emergency services outside the CasaSur Palermo hotel in Buenos Aires on October 16 after the death of Liam Payne
Nores was deemed persona non grata at Liam’s funeral on November 20; sources said he had ‘never been popular’ with the 1D star’s wider circle.
It came after texts were leaked from a prosecution file earlier this week, showing an alleged exchange between Liam and an escort on WhatsApp.
The prosecution file, obtained by Argentine journalist Mauro Szeta, showed messages from a nameless US phone number from Florida offering the escort $5,000 to ‘play’ and ‘party’. It had also sent her a link to Payne’s Instagram profile.
Liam had been staying at the hotel without girlfriend Kate Cassidy, who had left Argentina two days beforehand to return home to Miami.
A source previously told the Mail that Ms Cassidy had become disillusioned by the singer’s relapse into drug-taking, prompting her return to Miami.
Following his death, his girlfriend wrote on Instagram: ‘My heart is shattered in ways I can’t put into words. I will love you for the rest of my life and beyond, carrying our dreams and memories with me everywhere I go.’
Two women arrived at the hotel and went to Liam’s room on October 16. After an hour, as previously reported, Payne and the two women then came down to the lobby and allegedly argued about money.
The escorts then showed hotel manager Esteban Grassi the text message exchange, in which someone alleged to be Liam had promised them $5,000.
Grassi claims the singer then returned to his room, allegedly trashing it, before returning to the lobby. He was then taken back to his room again, alone.
At some point shortly after, Grassi claims, Payne then fell unconscious on his way back to the lobby before waking up and trying to sit on a stool at the hotel bar – at which point he collapsed again.
Liam Payne found fame as a member of One Direction (pictured left alongside Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson in 2013)
Liam later dated one-time X-Factor judge Cheryl Tweedy, and went on to have son Bear, seven, with her
Liam pictured with girlfriend Kate Cassidy in March 2023. She had stayed with Liam elsewhere in Argentina but flew home before he checked into the CasaSur
Liam Payne pictured in 2019 arriving at an event at the SSE Wembley Arena. He pursued a solo career after 1D went on hiatus in 2016
Hotel staff were then seen on CCTV, first revealed to the world by the Mail, carrying Liam by his limbs back to his room for what would be the last time.
Prosecutors are reported to be considering charges of ‘negligent homicide’ against staff who took Payne back to his room at a time of immediate crisis, rather than keeping him in the lobby.
After Liam fell, Grassi said he called Roger Nores and notified him. Nores reportedly told him he would notify Liam’s family, but was not seen or heard from again.
An autopsy report confirmed Payne died of traumatic brain injuries, after striking the base of his skull on a concrete umbrella base after falling from a third-floor balcony.
Also in the file was a text message from a bellboy to hotel reception manager Esteban Grassi, who claimed Payne had asked him if he knew where to get cocaine.
‘He invited me [in] to his room (which was a disaster, by the way) and asked me if I could get him cocaine,’ the bellboy said in his text.
‘I replied, ‘I apologise sir, but neither I nor any of the staff can help you with that type of service,’ to which he replied that I was ‘useless’ and that I should get out of his sight.’
Reports in Argentinian media have named waiter Barian Paiz, hotel worker Ezequiel Pereyra and Roger Nores as being accused of providing drugs for payment; Nores is also suspected of abandoning Payne before he died.
Grassi and Gilda Martín, the hotel’s head of security, have also been placed under suspicion and summoned to testify next week between December 17 and 19.
Paiz, Pereyra and Nores are also being summoned for further questioning.
Fans staged a vigil outside in the hours after his death as it became clear that Liam was the person who had fallen to his death
Liam Payne in his last Snapchat story. New statements given to prosecutors suggest he had offered prostitutes $5,000 and asked hotel staff where he could get cocaine
Nores has previously told MailOnline he ‘never abandoned Liam’, having attended the hotel several times that day.
The case is being overseen by Argentina’s national courts. Lawyers acting for Nores had asked for his case to be investigated by local prosecutors – initially approved by Laura Graciela Bruniard.
But national prosecutors appealed and Judge Marcelo Lucini, of the National Court of Appeals in Criminal and Correctional Matters, said this was ‘premature’ and returned the case to national prosecutors.
Prosecutors have pored over 800 hours of video footage and have taken ‘several dozen’ testimonies from witnesses, as well as data from Liam’s phone and those belonging to others.
Prosecutors are now hunting for video footage that appears to show the moment of Payne’s death. Such footage exists but has not been found, according to Argentine news outlet Infobae.
TMZ Investigates: Liam Payne: Who’s To Blame? airs on Monday night on Fox in the US.
