One of the three suspects being investigated over Liam Payne’s death has broken his silence after the star’s tragic death in Argentina last month
One of the three suspects being investigated over Liam Payne’s 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 Liam’s “dealer” in an ongoing prosecution probe, admitted to two hotel meetings with the 31-year-old 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 the father-of-one 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.
Speaking to journalist, Guillermo Panizza, Braian, who claimed Liam communicated with him using an secret Instagram account, said that his home has been searched, but he is yet to be quizzed by investigators. Claiming he did not supply Liam with drugs, he said: “I never supplied Liam with drugs. Liam’s first contact with me was at my place of work.
“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. I’ve 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 didn’t actually eat anything.”
Braian claims the second time he met Liam 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 Liam’s 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 singer’s hotel room the day he died. He said: “When I saw the photos of the inside of Liam’s hotel room nothing made any sense to me. The Dove soap packet was there when I was in the hotel but I couldn’t understand what it was for or the candles or the glass of water.”
Over the weekend it emerged Argentinian police probing Liam’s death are still hunting the singer’s 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.
Liam’s 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 singer’s 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. I’ve given my statement to the prosecutor on October 17 as a witness and I haven’t spoken to any police officer or prosecutor ever since. I wasn’t Liam’s manager. He was just my very dear friend.”
