Liam Payne.
(Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage)Hotel clerk Brian Nawell Pais was arrested in Argentina in connection with the singer To Liam Payne death.
The 24-year-old waiter was charged last month for allegedly making a late delivery One Direction drug star before his fatal fall.
Paiz was arrested at his home outside Buenos Aires, Argentina on Friday, January 3 and could face between 4 and 15 years in prison, it was reported people and TMZ. per TMZPaiz was under house arrest at the time local authorities raided his home.
people reported Friday, Jan. 3, that both Paiz and his attorney Fernando Madeo Fasente claim that the hotel employee is innocent.
One of three suspects being investigated for their alleged involvement in the death of Liam Payne has spoken out weeks after the singer’s fatal fall. During an interview with Argentina’s Telefe Noticias that aired on Saturday, November 9, Brian Nauel Paiz, accused of supplying Payne with drugs, denied selling drugs to the late musician. Pais, 24 years 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 the cause of Payne’s death, including hemorrhaging to the chest, skull and abdomen. A partial autopsy found multiple drugs were found in his body at the time of his death, including traces of “pink cocaine” – a mixture of methamphetamine, ketamine and MDMA – cocaine, benzodiazepine and crack cocaine.
It was Paiz one of the five accused on Monday, Dec. 30 by Argentina’s National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office in connection with Payne’s death.
In addition to Paiz, a CasaSur employee Ezequiel Pereira was also charged with allegedly supplying drugs to Payne before his death.
Meanwhile, Paine’s friend Roger Norres is among those charged with manslaughter, along with Esteban Grassireceptionist at Hotel CasaSur Palermo and head of hotel security Gilda Martin.
During an interview with Argentina Telefe news aired in November 2024, Paiz denied distributing drugs of the late musician. Paiz claims he first met Payne when he dined at the restaurant where Paiz worked in Puerto Madero in the weeks before his death.
According to Paiz, Payne “was already under the influence of drugs and didn’t really eat anything” at the restaurant.
He continued: “We exchanged details and saw each other later that evening. Everything was normal.”
Samir Hussain/Getty Images for Atlantis The Royal The investigation into Liam Payne’s death could soon lead to the arrests 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 Liam with drugs,” adding that the pair had 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 from him or accepted money,” he claimed, adding that he still had the messages exchanged between him and Payne to set up their second date.
Payne’s funeral took place in Amersham, England on Wednesday 20 November. Payne’s former One Direction bandmates — Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan – were among those present.
