Three people arrested over Liam Payne's death

Three people have been charged with the death of former One Direction singer Liam Payne, including a friend of the musician. Earlier, the Argentine police rejected the version of the star's suicide, and now they have revealed new circumstances of the tragedy and the results of the singer's posthumous toxicology examination.

The body of 31-year-old Payne was found lifeless under the balcony of a Buenos Aires hotel on October 17. The musician fell to his death from the third-floor balcony where his room was located. A preliminary toxicology report showed that the singer was under the influence of drugs at the time of his death.

"Three individuals have been charged with crimes related [to, among other things] to the sale and facilitation of the sale of drugs," E!Online quotes prosecutor Andres Esteban Madrea as saying.

The drug dealer who got Payne the lethal dose and the hotel employee who organized the transfer of the illegal substances are the third person arrested. The singer's friend, who was with him in his last days, is accused of leaving the artist in danger. All three have already been placed under arrest.

The team has conducted a forensic examination of Liam's phone, including call and text history, and reviewed 800 hours of CCTV footage from the hotel and surrounding area. They will also be recovering data from a laptop that was found broken in the singer's hotel room.

Prosecutors ruled out third-party involvement in the star's death and also rejected the theory of "self-harm": "While some of the evidence from the victim's medical history remains to be analysed, the phenomenon of the absence of a reflexive defensive posture when falling, together with other evidence, allows us to conclude that Liam Payne was not fully conscious or lost consciousness during the fall," the statement said.

The results of toxicology tests have also become known. The new report states that the artist's body "had traces of polydrug abuse" - at the time of his death, there was a "cocktail" of alcohol, a narcotic substance and a prescription antidepressant in his blood.

"This situation also rules out the possibility of a conscious or intentional act on the part of the victim," authorities said, "since in the state he was in, he did not realize what he was doing."

Liam Payne flew to Buenos Aires for a concert of his former bandmate Niall Horan, which took place on October 2, and decided to stay in the city. The singer was accompanied by his girlfriend, model and actress Katie Cassidy. After Payne's death, police found illegal substances in his room, the furniture was broken, and the TV was smashed. In addition, shortly before the tragedy, the police were called to the hotel: their staff were informed that there was "an aggressive man in the room, who was believed to be under the influence of drugs."

Following the singer's death, condolences poured in, including from his girlfriend Kate Cassidy. On social media, she wrote: "Thank you for all the kind words and love that have been sent my way. I am completely lost. Nothing about the last few days feels real."

According to some reports, Payne had recently suffered from severe depression due to problems with his ex-fiancée, American model Maya Henry. Not long before the incident, she accused the star of stalking him, and had previously written a book about a girl who had an affair with a celebrity. Because of all this, Henry was hit with a barrage of criticism after the incident, including accusations of Liam's death.

According to another theory, P. Diddy may be involved in the singer's death. Shortly before his death, the Universal Music label terminated Payne's contract after eight years of collaboration. The musician's difficulties arose after he began experimenting with lyrics and new music. Allegedly, in his songs, Liam directly talks about problems with influential people in the music industry and personal experiences. In numerous interviews, the artist hinted that he was preparing to "reveal some secrets." And Diddy, who is currently awaiting trial on charges of human trafficking and rape, allegedly could "prevent" this from happening.

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