Liam Payne.
(Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage)Hotel employee Brian Nahuel Paiz was arrested in Argentina in connection with the singer Of Liam Payne death.
The waiter, 24, was charged last month after allegedly supplying the late One Direction star with drugs before his fatal fall.
Paiz was arrested at his home outside Buenos Aires, Argentina on Friday, January 3 and could face 4 to 15 years in prison. The people AND TMZ. for TMZPaiz was under house arrest at the time local authorities raided his home.
The people reported on Friday, January 3 that both Paiz and his lawyer Fernando Madeo Facente they are claiming that the hotel employee is innocent.
One of the three suspects being investigated for their alleged involvement in Liam Payne’s death is speaking out weeks after the singer’s fatal fall. During an interview with Argentina’s Telefe Noticias that aired on Saturday, November 9, Brian Nahuel Paiz, accused of supplying Payne with narcotics, denied having distributed drugs to the late musician. Paiz, a 24-year-old (…)
Payne, who rose to fame as one of the five members of the boy band One Direction, died on October 16, 2024 after falling from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur Palermo hotel in Buenos Aires. He was 31.
A preliminary autopsy cited “multiple trauma” as Payne’s cause of death, including hemorrhaging to the chest, skull and abdomen. A partial autopsy revealed multiple drugs were found in his system at the time of his death, including traces of “pink cocaine” – a mix of methamphetamine, ketamine and MDMA – cocaine, benzodiazepine and crack.
Paiz was one of five people charged Monday, Dec. 30 by Argentina’s National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office in connection with Payne’s death.
Besides Paiz, a CasaSur employee Ezequiel Pereyra was also accused of supplying drugs to Payne before his death.
Meanwhile, Payne’s friend Roger Nores is among those facing manslaughter charges, along with Esteban Grassia receptionist at the CasaSur Palermo hotel and the hotel’s chief security officer Gilda Martin.
During an interview for Argentina Phone News that aired in November 2024, Paiz denied having distributed drugs to the late musician. Paiz claimed he first met Payne when he dined at the restaurant where Paiz works in Puerto Madero in the weeks before his death.
According to Paiz, Payne “was already under the influence of drugs and he didn’t actually eat anything” at the restaurant.
He continued, “We exchanged details and saw each other later that night. It was all normal.”
Samir Hussein/Getty Images for Atlantis The Royal The investigation into Liam Payne’s death could soon result in the arrest of two men who allegedly supplied the singer with drugs. Police may arrest Brian Nahuel Paiz and Ezequiel Pereyra during the holiday season, a court reporter told Us Weekly on Wednesday, December 11. Both are (…)
Paiz insisted: “I never supplied drugs to Liam,” adding that the pair arranged to meet at the Hyatt in Palermo on October 2. They met again at the CasaSur Palermo hotel in Buenos Aires on October 13.
“We did drugs together, but I never took drugs or accepted money,” he claimed, adding that he still had the text messages exchanged between him and Payne to arrange their second date.
Payne’s funeral was held in Amersham, England, on Wednesday, November 20. Payne’s former One Direction bandmates – Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik AND Niall Horan – were among those present.
