Liam Payne’s final hours: Hotel staff reveals alleged requests from singer in bombshell texts
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA: Liam Payne’s tragic final hours have been revealed in a new report that claimed the late singer asked for alcohol “all the time” and also inquired about cocaine just hours before he died in a hotel in Argentina.
The shocking revelation came to light through WhatsApp messages from Esteban Grassi, the chief receptionist of CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, where Payne died in October, as per The Mirror.
Grassi is one of the five suspects who have been under formal investigation following the English songwriter’s death. Payne died after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires on October 16 at the age of 31.
Liam Payne asked for cocaine from Buenos Aires hotel staff
The Mirror citing Argentinian news portal Todo Noticias said that one of the messages on Esteban Grassi’s phone number, sent by a person registered as Santiago Benitez Bellboy AM on Grassi's phone, read, “Hello Esteban how are you? Sorry for bothering you but I wanted to let you know about a little situation I had with the person in room 310.”
“When I went to hand him a guest amenity and welcome him to the hotel and Argentina, he invited me into his room (which was a complete mess) and asked me if I could get him cocaine,” it said.
Bellboy AM also revealed in his message that Payne called him “useless” after he did not adhere to his request.
The person then went on to mention the hotel’s head of security Gilda Martin, who is also under investigation, in his message.
He added, “I'm going to tell Gilda this too so you’re both aware and there's no misunderstandings in case this man mentions my name again at some point in his stay, because he asked me what my name was. I'm just telling you and Gilda this.”
Grassi admitted to the investigators that the former member of ‘One Direction’ “rang reception repeatedly to ask for alcohol all the time and ask where he could get drugs, specifically cocaine.”
Liam Payne asked hotel receptionist to act as his translator
Additionally, the 'Bedroom Floor' singer reportedly asked Esteban Grassi to be his translator while he spent time with two escorts.
“They told me he owed them 5,000 dollars but it seemed strange to me because he had asked me previously for 300 dollars and although I’m not an expert about these things, the amount of money they were asking for seemed a bit excessive to me,” he disclosed.
Grassi reportedly confessed before the officers that he was outside Payne’s room and "heard he was once again smashing up everything inside, as if he was throwing or kicking things,” and after he made the emergency call, “one of the sales lads appeared and told me, 'He threw himself off the balcony'.”
“I asked him if he was alive and he said he didn't know, that he'd fallen onto the restaurant terrace and heard the noise, but no one had seen how he'd fallen,” the suspect added.
