It is known that this man met Liam Payne 2 days before the singer passed away, their relationship may be related to the death of the former One Direction member.
According to some witnesses present at the restaurant on the evening of October 2, they saw 24-year-old waiter Braian Nahuel Paiz working at this restaurant sitting in front of an empty plate, restless, distracted and clearly under the influence of drugs.
The Mail can now reveal that it was at this restaurant that night that former One Direction singer Liam Payne met a 24-year-old waiter called Braian Nahuel Paiz, sparking an unlikely friendship that Argentinian prosecutors believe directly contributed to the singer’s tragic and untimely death just two weeks later.
So who is Braian Paiz, who was charged last week by Argentina’s National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office along with two other suspects for allegedly being involved in the millionaire’s death?
Exactly one month ago, on October 16, Liam, then 31, fell from the third-floor balcony of Room 10 at the CasaSur hotel in the upscale Palermo district, where he had been staying for the previous three days of a two-week trip to the South American capital. He had come to attend former One Direction member Niall Horan’s solo concert at the Movistar Arena.
Earlier, when reporters contacted restaurant staff to ask about Braian, some colleagues said: ‘Braian was a good friend of mine. He was a great guy and stayed at my house many times. But he had a problem with cocaine. And now he has turned off his phone. No one who works here can contact him.’
Another colleague at the restaurant revealed that Paiz often drank at the Hard Rock Cafe after his shift at Las Lilas ended. They added: ‘He was outgoing, always laughing – and rarely alone.’
Although Paiz has seemingly been in hiding since Payne’s death, refusing to speak to journalists, he did give a brief interview to Argentine television station Telefe Noticias last weekend. According to Paiz’s account, Liam asked the waiter for his contact information at the restaurant because he wanted to buy drugs. That evening, Paiz claims, the pair exchanged messages via Instagram, with Payne using a separate account run under a discreet pseudonym.
In the interview, Paiz revealed:‘He texted me because he wanted to do drugs. I thought he was going to a concert or something. We exchanged information and met up that night.’
After visiting the restaurant, Payne appeared to head to Niall Horan’s concert, where he appeared in high spirits. After the show, he shared a selfie on social media with Horan, captioning it: ‘Reunited’.
That night, Payne apparently arranged for Paiz to meet him at the Park Hyatt Palermo – a different hotel from the CasaSur, where he would die just two weeks later. Paiz told Argentine television that Payne even came down to pick him up from the lobby after the young man got lost looking for the star’s room. They later listened to some of Payne’s unreleased music while drinking together.
On the night of their second meeting, October 13 – 11 days after their first – Paiz admitted:‘We did drugs together.‘ Paiz and Payne’s second meeting was, of course, at the fateful CasaSur hotel, where the singer died just three days later.
During the extended drug session, Paiz appears to have smoked cannabis, while Payne consumed large amounts of cocaine. Photos leaked after the star’s death showed a large amount of drug paraphernalia in his room, including crumpled pieces of burnt silver paper, a lighter and traces of white powder. Paiz has denied supplying the pop star with drugs: “I never gave him drugs… I have messages that he paid me because he seemed to be used to paying for everything – but I never received anything.” However, Argentina’s attorney general has insisted that Paiz was responsible for distributing ‘two clearly verified supplies [of cocaine] on two separate occasions’ – apparently on two occasions when he visited Payne’s hotel.
In another surprising twist, Paiz told Argentine television that the pair had an “intimate” moment on the night of October 13. He claimed: “We slept together all night, we took drugs because it’s true that something intimate happened.” ‘He wasn’t aggressive at all, he was very nice to me, he was really sweet. He asked me if I was okay. I have all the messages where we arranged a second meeting. I haven’t deleted anything.’
Paiz added:‘When I left, he wanted to give me some clothes so I would have memories of being with him. But I left them because I didn’t want to take them with me. It was some grey joggers and a T-shirt.’
After the late night encounter on October 13, which lasted until the early hours of the morning, Paiz returned home only to text Payne back:‘I told Liam that a close friend of mine wanted to meet him as he’s a fan of Liam.’
The singer agreed and drove to Paiz’s house that morning – October 14, two days before his death.‘He showed up outside where I lived and tried to get halfway into the building and wanted us to go back to his hotel, but I told him I couldn’t because I had to go to work,’Paiz revealed. Payne got back in his car and drove off. ‘That was the last time I saw him,’ the valet said.
The day after Liam’s death, Paiz posted two selfies with the singer, captioning them: ‘Fly high, Chief. Thank you for enlightening me and entering my reality. I will always miss you. See you on the other side.’ He ended his tribute with a heart emoji.
