The British singer died after falling from the balcony of the CasaSur Palermo hotel in Buenos Aires. Liam was under the influence of alcohol and drugs; his room contained alcohol and remnants of a white powder. His girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, left Argentina and returned to the U.S. two days before the tragedy. She was shocked to learn that on the day of his death, Payne had called two women to the hotel. The police identified them as 31-year-old Aldana Serrano and 27-year-old Lucila Goitea. They entered the artist’s room at 11:40 a.m. and left at 4:00 p.m.
One witness reported that Liam had an argument with them over money in the lobby. U.S. citizen Michael Fleischman stated he heard Liam tell one of the women, “I’ll give you $20,000 just because I can. I have $55 million, and I love helping people.” The tourist’s mother, Toni, said the atmosphere was tense. “It seemed like the girl was very uncomfortable and a bit scared. At that moment, there were hardly any other people in the lobby—just my son, me, Liam Payne, that girl, and the staff. The manager was trying to intervene politely or calm him down. The situation felt unsettling,” noted Mrs. Fleischman.
Another American tourist said she saw Payne in the hotel lobby around 4:30 p.m. He yelled into his phone, “Screw that jerk!” and then smashed his laptop, shocking guests and staff. At 5:00 p.m., Liam fell from the balcony.
Both Argentinian women were questioned by the police, and reports indicate their statements matched. “Aldana and Lucila are completely devastated by what happened after they left the hotel. They cooperated with the police as soon as they were contacted and wanted to help with the investigation as much as possible. The police have the girls’ phone numbers and will reach out when they need more information,” said an insider.
Argentinian journalist Mercedes Ninci initially suggested Aldana and Lucila were involved in the tragedy. However, at the time of the singer’s death, the women were already far from central Buenos Aires, heading home. Lucila is from a neighborhood called Isidro Casanova, about an hour’s drive from CasaSur, while Aldana is from El Talar de Pacheco.
Kate Cassidy took the news of her star boyfriend’s infidelity hard. “She just found out about the prostitutes. She knew nothing about it. She said she needs to come to terms with this betrayal. She can’t stop crying. She’s heartbroken. She has a good support system, but it’s even harder for her now. She’s not okay,” a close friend of hers reported.
