It is known that this man met Liam Payne 2 days before the singer’s death, their relationship could be linked to the death of the former member of One Direction.
According to some witnesses present at the restaurant on the evening of October 2, they saw Braian Nahuel Paiz, a 24-year-old waiter working at the restaurant, sitting in front of an empty plate, agitated, 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 say directly contributed to the singer’s tragic and untimely death two weeks later.
So who is Braian Paiz, indicted last week by the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office of Argentina, along with two other suspects, for his alleged involvement in the death of the millionaire?
Exactly one month ago, on October 16, Liam, then 31, fell from the third-floor balcony of room 10 of the CasaSur hotel in the upscale Palermo neighborhood, where he had been staying for the previous three days of a two-week trip to the South American capital. He had come to see former One Direction member Niall Horan perform solo at the Movistar Arena.
Earlier, when journalists contacted the restaurant staff to ask about Braian, some colleagues said: “Braian was a good friend of mine. He was a great guy and he came to my house several 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 restaurant colleague revealed that Paiz often drank at the Hard Rock Cafe after his shift at Las Lilas. He added: “He was outgoing, always laughing – and rarely alone.”
Although Paiz has appeared to be in hiding since Payne’s death, refusing to speak to reporters, he did give a brief interview to Argentine television station Telefe Noticias last weekend. According to Paiz, Liam asked the waiter at the restaurant for his contact information because he wanted to buy drugs. That night, Paiz claims the two exchanged messages via Instagram, with Payne using a separate account run under a discreet pseudonym.
In the interview, Paiz revealed:“He sent me a message 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 be heading to Niall Horan’s concert, where he appeared in good spirits. After the show, he shared a selfie on social media with Horan, captioning it: “Reunited.”
That night, Payne apparently arranged to meet Paiz at the Park Hyatt Palermo, a different hotel from the CasaSur, where he would die two weeks later. Paiz told Argentine television that Payne even picked him up in the lobby after the young man got lost looking for the star’s room. They later listened to unreleased Payne music while drinking together.
On the evening of their second meeting, October 13, 11 days after the first, Paiz admitted:“We took drugs together.» Paiz and Payne’s second meeting took place, of course, at the fateful CasaSur hotel, where the singer died three days later.
During the extended session, Paiz appears to have smoked cannabis, while Payne consumed large quantities of cocaine. Photos leaked after the star’s death show a large amount of drug paraphernalia in his room, including crumpled and burnt pieces of silver foil, a lighter and traces of white powder. Paiz has denied supplying drugs to the pop star: “I never gave him any drugs… I received messages saying he paid me because he seemed to have a habit of paying for everything – but I never received anything.” However, Argentina’s attorney general insisted that Paiz was responsible for distributing “two clearly verified deliveries [of cocaine] on two separate occasions” – apparently both times during his visit to Payne’s hotel.
Paiz told Argentine television that the couple had an “intimate” moment on the night of October 13. “We slept together all night, we took drugs because it’s true that something intimate happened,” he added. “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 agreed to a second date. I haven’t deleted anything.”
Paiz added:“When I left, he wanted to give me some clothes so that I could keep memories of the time I spent with him. But I left them because I didn’t want to take them with me. They were gray jogging pants and a T-shirt.”
After the late-night encounter on October 13, which lasted into the early morning hours, Paiz returned home to text Payne:“I told Liam that a close friend of mine wanted to meet him because he’s a fan of Liam.”
The singer agreed and went to Paiz’s house that morning, October 14, two days before his death.“He showed up in front of my house 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 away. “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 shining a light on me and entering my reality. I will always miss you. See you on the other side.” He ended his tribute with a heart emoji.
