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Liam Payne had just one mission to fulfill during his final moments at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel, which eventually led to his death, new footage appears to confirm. The former One Direction member passed away on October 16, 2024, after plunging to his death from the balcony of his third-floor hotel room in Buenos Aires. A report released after his death claimed the singer “jumped” from the balcony, portraying it as a possible suicide while under the influence of drugs. However, new findings previously withheld show that the icon sought to escape from his involuntary confinement in the hotel, even letting employees know his intentions beforehand.
Details gathered from surveillance footage, witness account, and an emergency call show Liam Payne repeatedly threatened to escape via the hotel’s balcony during his reportedly erratic episode. Yet, the hotel employees forcefully carried him into his room on the third floor, and locked him up alone, with no evident precautions taken to keep him off the said balcony.
Records Show Hotel Confined Liam Payne Against His Will During Final Moments
Screenshots captured from the hotel footage showed three staff members carrying a conscious Liam back to his room by his hands and feet. The singer struggled with the hotel employees when they got to his room, unwilling to go inside per TMZ. Despite his protests, the staff forced him in, using a master key to access the room. Having confined him, the meticulous staff of the CasaSur Palermo hotel removed a mirror outside Liam Payne’s room to prevent him from damaging it during his destructive episode as confirmed in the police report. While the interactions remain unclear, one of the staff who saw Liam to his room found his threats disturbing enough to call 911 just minutes later, citing the balcony as a potential danger. In the 911 transcript, the employee said,
“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…”
Their worst fears eventually came to pass before authorities could intervene. First responders discovered Liam’s severely injured body when they arrived, pronouncing him dead at the scene. Notably, the icon had a bag strapped around his shoulder, which he must have picked up from his room before heading to the balcony. They also found his cap nearby, both of which were not in Liam Payne’s possession when the employees dragged him into the hotel room.
Additionally, police reports show that a hotel employee found a brown leather bag on the 2nd-floor balcony right underneath Liam Payne’s room two days after his death. The bag contained a note to the For You singer addressed “for Liam,” as well as several pills and a bottle of Jack Daniel’s, all supposedly belonging to Liam. The bag’s presence on the second floor implies the singer may have attempted to make his way to the second-floor balcony in his bid to escape his hotel confinement, deciding to let his luggage down first.
Liam Has a History of Reckless Hotel Escapes
Sadly, he never made the drop successfully, with reports from the coroner suggesting he may have fainted beforehand leading to his tragic fall, per TMZ. According to the outlet, that wasn’t exactly Liam Payne’s first attempt to leap a hotel balcony as a means of escape. A source revealed that the One Direction bandmember hated having himself locked up in hotel rooms, and usually plotted creative balcony escapes. A recent incident happened in September 2024, where his concerned bodyguard reportedly locked him inside the room of a Florida rental apartment following a suspected drug use. Sources told the outlet that the 31-year-old made his way out through a balcony, with the aid of a garden hose.
While the Buenos Aires hotel may or may not have been aware of this “reckless” history, perhaps his threats to escape through the balcony in his “erratic” state should not have been taken lightly.
In fact, one insider believes the CasaSur Palermo Hotel is responsible for Liam Payne’s death in some way for caring more about the destruction of hotel property than the singer’s safety. Speaking to TMZ, they alleged that Argentinian authorities are involved in this conspiracy by trying to protect the hotel, which explains the three arrests made so far in connection to Liam Payne’s death despite the glaring pointers in footage from his final moments.