Argentinian entrepreneur and friend of Liam Payne, Roger Nores, who has been charged over the singer’s death, made a disturbing comment about his disbelief over the incident, it has been revealed.
Liam tragically died on October 16 at the age of 31, after falling from a third-floor balcony of the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in the Argentinian capital, Buenos Aires.
Roger, who was one of five people charged in connection with his death, grew close to Liam following a Vogue event in London in 2020. Despite being with him on the same day, Roger has consistently protested his innocence.
Speaking last month, he said: “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’m really heart-broken with this tragedy, and I’ve been missing my friend every day.”
Join the Daily Record’s WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.
However, in a conversation with MailOnline journalist Fred Kelly after the tragedy, Roger made a chilling comment while still “visibly distraught”.
Fred wrote: “The most shocking charge is the one brought against Payne’s friend and confidant Roger Nores, a man I got to know well back in November. When I first met Roger in a Buenos Aires cafe a month after Payne’s death, it was clear that he was still in shock.”
Roger is said to have retorted: “I keep thinking I’m going to bump into him or my phone’s going to ring and he’ll be on the other end of the line.”
Roger recently appeared in documentary TMZ Investigates: Liam Payne: Who’s to Blame? where he was adamant he was not involved in Liam’s passing, the Mirror reports.
His comments about Liam’s general demeanour on the day of his death contradicted reports that he was in a frenzied state and under the influence of alcohol and drugs, acting drunk and disorderly before falling from the balcony.
Stating Liam was “perfectly balanced”, Roger said: “I’m a very good friend of Liam, and I was with him the day that he passed away. He was in good spirits. He was like talking to 10 or 15 Americans that were here for a wedding. And so he was talking to them, and he was joking around.”
Two phone calls were made to emergency services from the CasaSur Palermo Hotel before Liam was found dead. In one, a caller appearing to be the chief receptionist said they had a guest who had taken “too many drugs and alcohol” and was “trashing the entire room” before the connection cut out. The same person called back, asking for someone to be sent “urgently” due to concerns over the guest’s safety as the room had a balcony.
Hotel staff, including chief receptionist Esteban Grassi and head of security Gilda Martin, have been charged with manslaughter in connection with Liam’s death.
Don’t miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond – Sign up to our daily newsletter here.