One of the three suspects being investigated over Liam Paynes death has broken his silence after the stars tragic death in Argentina last month
One of the three suspects being investigated over Liam Paynes death has broken his silence to insist he did nothing wrong and make astonishing claims about his relationship with the singer.
Argentinian waiter, Braian Nahuel Paiz, who has been identified as Liams dealer in an ongoing prosecution probe, admitted to meeting the star, 31, in his hotel twice before his fatal October 16 plunge and confessed to taking drugs with him. But he insisted he never supplied Liam with narcotics or accepted any money from him.
Braian, 24, who appeared on Argentinian TV on Saturday, claimed that he met Liam for the first time at the restaurant where he worked, claiming the singer had exchanged contact details as he dined with his girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, and two other people.
We swapped details and saw each other later that night. It was all normal. He came down from his hotel room to fetch me because I had got lost.
He continued: We got together there and he showed me some of the music he was going to bring out. Ive heard people saying he was taking drugs, but the truth is that when he got to the restaurant where I was working he was already under the effects of drugs and he didnt actually eat anything.
Braian claims the second time he met Liam, he spent the night with the star, claiming the singer was consuming cocaine while Braian smoked marijuana, alleging: We took drugs together but I never took drugs to him or accepted any money.
Braian is one of the three people investigated in connection with Liams death. Claiming he had no idea who the other two suspects are, the waiter said he was confused when he saw the photos from the singers hotel room the day he died. He said: When I saw the photos of the inside of Liams hotel room nothing made any sense to me. The Dove soap packet was there when I was in the hotel but I couldnt understand what it was for or the candles or the glass of water.
Over the weekend it emerged Argentinian police probing Liams death are still hunting the singers missing Rolex watch.Braian was not asked during his interview about the timepiece.
The restaurant worker, said to have been sacked from his job after his implication in the ongoing criminal probe, is the second person linked to Liam to speak out.
Liams close friend Rogelio Roger Nores protested his innocence after being named locally last week as one of the trio under investigation.
Responding to the reports which identified him as one of the suspects linked to the drug accusations and allegations he abandoned Liam before his death, businessman Mr Nores who has previously been described as the singers manager, said in a statement: I never abandoned Liam, I went to his hotel three times that day and left 40 minutes before this happened. There were over 15 people at the hotel lobby chatting and joking with him when I left.
I could have never imagined something like this would happen. Ive given my statement to the prosecutor on October 17 as a witness and I havent spoken to any police officer or prosecutor ever since. I wasnt Liams manager. He was just my very dear friend.He added: Im really heart-broken with this tragedy, and Ive been missing my friend every day.
The third suspect, who is yet to speak in public, has been named locally as a hotel worker called Ezequiel David Pereyra, 21.Prosecutors said in their lengthy statement released last Thursday three men they did not identify by name were now being formally investigated on suspicion of abandoning a person who subsequently died and supplying and facilitating drugs. The statement described one as the person who routinely accompanied Liam during his stay in Buenos Aires.
Tests have shown that Liam consumed alcohol and cocaine before he died and also had traces of an antidepressant in his system.Prosecutors also made clear that the idea simger had committed suicide had been ruled out and said he was in a state of semi or total unconsciousness as he fell to his death when he didnt know what he was doing.
They said of the hotel worker and the alleged drug dealer: The second suspect is a hotel employee who must respond for two proven supplies of cocaine to Liam Payne during the time he was in the hotel. The third is also a drug dealer who is being investigated on suspicion of another two clearly proven supplies of cocaine at two different times on October 14.