The cause of death of former One Direction star Liam Payne has been confirmed as “polytrauma”.
The singer died on October 16, 2024 after falling from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with the local prosecutor’s office stating his cause of death at the time as multiple traumas and internal and external bleeding.
A hearing at the Buckinghamshire Coroner’s Court confirmed that his death was the result of “polytrauma”, which is defined as multiple traumatic injuries which have been sustained to a person’s body and organ systems (via BBC)
The inquest into the Night Changes singer’s death has been advised that it may still take “some time” to fully determine how Payne, who was 31 at the time of his death, died. The hearing is now adjourned until later in 2025.
Senior Coroner Crispin Butler said: “Whilst there are ongoing investigations in Argentina into the circumstances of Liam’s death, over which I have no legal jurisdiction, it is anticipated that procuring the relevant information to address particularly how Liam came by his death may take some time through the formal channel of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.”
Five people have been charged in Argentina over the death, including Payne’s friend Roger Nores, CasaSur Palermo hotel manager Gilda Martin, reception head Esteban Grassi, Ezequiel Pereyra and Braian Paiz.
Additional wrongful death charges were made against Nores, Martin and Grassi, with the judge noting: “I do not believe that [Nores, Martin, and Grassi] planned and wanted Payne’s death. They did not plan the result but created a legally disapproved risk.”
Laura Bruniard, the judge in Argentina, also stated that the hitmaker jumped off his hotel balcony to escape the building while under the influence of drugs, adding: “Payne’s consciousness was altered and a balcony was in the room.
“The proper thing to do was to leave him in a safe place, and with company, until a doctor arrived,” she wrote, adding that the hotel employees who had taken him back to his room “did not act maliciously” but were “imprudent” in their actions.
“I maintain that [Payne] tried to leave from the balcony of the place where he was left because the forensic experts noted that he did not lose his balance. This is how the fall occurred.”
A report from the National Crime and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office No. 14 revealed his toxicology results showed cocaine, alcohol and antidepressants were all present in Payne’s system at the time of his death.
