A woman who spent time with One Direction singer Liam Payne before his death claims to have been ‘promised’ his £30,000 Rolex watch, reports say.
The singer’s watch, which is still missing, reportedly vanished after an ‘escort’ he spent time with before his death went back up to his hotel room, The Mirror reports.
Argentinian news website Infobae said the woman claimed to have forgotten her makeup, and was allowed back into the third-floor room at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires to retrieve it.
The website, which cited sources close to the ongoing criminal investigation, said: “There, Payne’s Rolex watch disappeared.” The woman claims, along with another female who came to the hotel, that Liam had promised them £5,000 – but they say they did not receive the money.
According to Infobae, the pair later told prosecutors that Liam, who they described as being a ‘gentleman’, had knelt in front of them and said: “I love you. I love you.”
Claims also suggest that he had ‘promised them’ his Rolex watch, however the singer reportedly did not hand over more cash in the room, or later in the lobby.
The singer’s friend and former manager Roger Nores is then said to have arrived and attempted to “resolve the situation”. Forty minutes later Liam tragically fell three floors to his death from the balcony of his hotel room.
Liam was reported to have been seen wearing the Rolex watch, which is estimated to be worth around £33,000 on the day of his death. But reports say that the item was not on his person when he fell, and it has not been seen since.
According to The Mirror, a detective involved in the case said: “We know, from images that were analysed, that Payne was wearing a Rolex on the day of his death. He was wearing it on one of his hands and he had it for at least two to three hours before he (died).”
Police have since searched Liam’s hotel room and the homes of several people known to have associated with Liam that day – including premises linked to the two female escorts – and it’s still to be recovered. Though the women, who haven’t been named by police, are said to be being treated as witnesses, rather than suspects in the case, they have now reportedly hired a lawyer.
Police investigation
In the hours before Liam’s death, Infobae reports the singer requested bottles of Moet & Chandon Champagne, Johnnie Walker Black Label Whisky and 300 dollars. Prosecutors are said to be working on the theory the cash was to pay a dealer for drugs.
It was reported that Liam was acting “erratically and smashed his laptop in the lobby” before being carried up to his room. Hotel staff reportedly made two calls to emergency services saying a guest who had taken “too many drugs and alcohol” and was “trashing the entire room”. Shortly afterwards Liam fell to his death.
Prosecutors have ruled out self harm or Liam taking his own life and think he was ‘unconscious or semi-conscious’ when he fell. They have concluded the singer, who had drugs and alcohol in his system when he died, did not know what he was doing or did not have any comprehension of his actions.
A post-mortem found he died from multiple injuries, as well as internal and external bleeding caused by the fall. Three people, including a hotel worker, have since been charged in connection with Liam’s death on October 16.
One is facing charges of ‘abandonment of a person followed by death’ – which carries a maximum 15 year prison sentence – and two others are charged with supplying drugs. Liam was laid to rest at a private funeral in Buckinghamshire last week and there are calls for a permanent memorial in his hometown of Wolverhampton.