Liam Payne was seen arguing with a woman about money in the lobby of his hotel just hours before he died falling from a balcony in Buenos Aires, a fellow guest has claimed.
The 31-year-old former One Direction singer plunged 45ft from the third floor into the courtyard of the Casa Sur Hotel in the Argentinian capital on Wednesday, sparking a wave of grief around the world.
In the wake of the tragedy, hotel guests shared their chilling recollections of the moments before his death, including hearing ‘violent noises’ and a ‘scream’.
One guest claims Payne had made a shocking admission just minutes before he plunged to his death claiming: ‘I used to be in a boy band – that’s why I’m so f**ked up’.
Michael Fleischmann, from the United States, was also staying in the luxury hotel and claims just three hours before Payne’s death the singer seemed ‘a little wild’ as he argued with an unnamed woman about money.
He claimed the former boy band star kept repeating to the woman: ‘I’ll give you $20,000 dollars just because I can. I have $55 million and I like to help people.’
During the ‘very tense situation’ the woman is said to have spoken in Spanish with the hotel manager translating the conversation to Payne at around 2pm local time.
Mr Fleischmann told the Buenos Aires Herald that he only recognised that the man ‘with an English accent who seemed to be causing a disturbance’ in the lobby was Payne until after news of his death broke.
He added that the singer had ‘seemed very upset, agitated, a little wild, walking around and pacing’ and ‘seemed very energized’.
Mr Fleischmann’s mother Toni added: ‘It just looked like she was extremely uncomfortable with him, and a little apprehensive.
‘It was just my son, me, Liam Payne, the woman and the staff. The manager was trying to politely intervene or calm him down. There was a feeling of anxiety in the area.’
The mother and son ended up getting in the same lift as Payne. They later left the hotel and the woman seen arguing with the star was outside the building on the phone.
Payne was found dead by police who say they found the popstar’s medicines including clonazepam – a drug which is used to control epilepsy, involuntary muscle spasms and panic disorders.
Photos inside the luxury suite, published by Argentinian magazine Clarin, appeared to confirm the troubling report about Payne’s mental state.
On a table, the surface was covered with tin foil, white powder, a lighter and scorch marks on the wooden surface.
A blackened aluminium drinks can lid appeared to have been heated and a smashed TV screen on a shelf bore the signs of a heavy impact whilst a half-empty Champagne flute was nearby.
Rebecca, not her real name, a 28-year-old IT consultant from Washington DC, took these haunting photographs of Payne in the lobby shortly before his death.
She said his bizarre behaviour and its horrific aftermath had left her ‘shaken’. As tributes continued to pour in for Payne, including from his former bandmates:
Rebecca’s surprise 30-minute long encounter with Payne took place in the foyer of the hotel, where she was staying for a wedding. Payne had been due to check out on Wednesday morning, but still had not done so by late afternoon, she claimed.
Rebecca took her photos from 4.26pm local time (8.26pm UK time) – which is also when Payne made the ‘boy band’ comment. Just 36 minutes later, hotel staff raised the alarm at 5.04pm following Payne’s fall. An ambulance arrived at 5.11pm and Payne was then certified dead.
Rebecca told MailOnline in an exclusive interview: ‘One of my friends was due to get his suite, so the hotel staff were a little on edge because he still hadn’t checked out at 4.30pm, but also because of his behaviour.
‘I came into the hotel, and he was waiting by the elevator, and it was so clear he wanted someone to recognise him, there was something a bit desperate about him.
‘I was with my friends and we did know who he was, but none of us were that bothered.
‘When the lift came he suddenly said to us without any prompting: ‘Yes, I’m Liam!’ really drawing it out, and then said ‘All right come on you lot, get in the elevator with me, I love a cuddle’.
‘I decided against it and waited for the next one, but some of the other girls got in with him and half way up, he started saying ‘Oh, you’re Americans, I live in West Palm Beach.
‘I know Americans. You guys are f***ing crazy! You guys are f***ing dangerous!
