Two women who were with Liam Payne hours before his death have described an increasingly chaotic and emotional encounter inside his Buenos Aires hotel room.
According to newly reported sworn statements, the former One Direction singer drank alcohol, repeatedly asked for cocaine, spoke about his son and became distressed during a disagreement over payment.
The women said Payne damaged a television and smashed his gold watch before they left the CasaSur Palermo Hotel on October 16, 2024.
Payne died later that afternoon after falling from the balcony of his third-floor room. Two men are awaiting trial in Argentina on allegations that they supplied him with cocaine. Both have denied wrongdoing.
Two Women Describe Liam Payne’s Final Morning
Aldana Serrano and Lucila Goitea told investigators that they were hired through an escort service and arrived at Payne’s hotel at approximately 11:30 a.m. The women said the encounter was consensual and initially calm, although they described Payne as intoxicated and emotionally unsettled.
According to accounts of their statements published by the Daily Mail, Australia’s Herald Sun and The Standard, Payne drank, performed some of his own songs and repeatedly asked whether they had cocaine.
He also reportedly spoke about Bear, the son he shared with singer Cheryl, and expressed unhappiness despite the wealth and fame he had accumulated during his career.
The statements form part of the extensive case file assembled by Argentine investigators, who reviewed witness testimony, hotel surveillance footage, phone records, messages and evidence recovered from Payne’s room.
A Payment Dispute Reportedly Triggered an Outburst
The encounter reportedly deteriorated when the women prepared to leave and requested payment. Published accounts differ over some of the financial details, but the women consistently described a dispute because Payne did not have enough cash available to pay them immediately.
They said he offered them his gold Rolex before smashing it and boasting that he could replace it. He then allegedly punched the television several times. “He made us understand that he could smash everything because he knew he could pay for it,” one of the women said, according to The Standard.
The women also alleged that Payne became emotional, dropped to his knees and asked them to remain with him while saying that money did not make him happy. They eventually left the hotel but reportedly returned later to retrieve belongings. Payne apologized for his earlier behavior during that second encounter, according to their statements.
Argentina’s prosecutor previously confirmed that investigators interviewed two women who spent time with Payne on the day of his death and had left the hotel before his fatal fall.
Payne Was Seen Struggling in the Hotel Lobby
Hotel guests and employees described Payne’s condition worsening during the afternoon. Guest Bret Watson told ITV News that he saw Payne repeatedly enter the lobby, create disturbances and get escorted back upstairs.
During Payne’s final appearance in the lobby, Watson said the singer appeared to lose consciousness and had to be carried back to his room by hotel employees. Investigative records similarly stated that Payne was unable to stand because of the substances he had consumed when workers returned him to the third floor.
The decision to take him back to a room with an accessible balcony became central to the initial criminal case against hotel manager Gilda Martin and chief receptionist Esteban Grassi.
An Argentine appeals court dismissed negligent-homicide charges against Martin, Grassi and Payne’s friend Rogelio “Roger” Nores in February 2025. Nores was later permanently cleared of the remaining allegation against him after prosecutors declined to challenge the dismissal.
Hotel Staff Warned That His Life Could Be in Danger
Shortly before 5 p.m., the hotel’s chief receptionist called emergency services and reported that a guest affected by drugs and alcohol was destroying objects inside his room. The employee expressed particular concern because the room had a balcony and said the guest’s life could be in danger, according to the published emergency-call transcript.
“I don’t know whether his life may be in danger,” the receptionist told the operator. Payne fell into the hotel’s interior courtyard at approximately 5:07 p.m., before emergency responders could intervene. He was pronounced dead at the scene at age 31. A postmortem examination determined that he died from multiple traumatic injuries and internal and external bleeding caused by the fall.
Argentine prosecutors later said the physical and forensic evidence did not support the conclusion that Payne had consciously or voluntarily jumped. They said he may have been in a state of partial or complete unconsciousness and unable to understand his actions.
Toxicology Found Alcohol, Cocaine and an Antidepressant
Complete toxicology testing found alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant in Payne’s system during the period before his death. The Argentine prosecutor’s office said investigators had identified several instances in which third parties allegedly supplied drugs or facilitated Payne’s substance use between October 13 and October 16.
Police recovered alcohol, medication, damaged furniture and substances suspected to be narcotics from the hotel room. Payne had spoken publicly before his death about alcoholism, addiction and the psychological difficulty of adjusting to life during and after One Direction.
Two Men Are Awaiting Trial on Drug-Supply Charges
Former CasaSur employee Ezequiel David Pereyra and waiter Braian Nahuel Paiz are accused of supplying cocaine to Payne during his stay in Buenos Aires. Prosecutors allege that Paiz supplied him on October 14, while Pereyra provided cocaine on October 15 and again during the afternoon of October 16.
The Argentine prosecutor’s office announced in June 2025 that Pereyra and Paiz would face an oral trial on drug-supply charges. Both men have denied the allegations, and neither has been convicted.
The British inquest into Payne’s death remains dependent on information from the Argentine proceedings. At a May 2026 hearing, Senior Coroner Crispin Butler said he was still awaiting further evidence and scheduled another pre-inquest review for December 1.