ONE of the final people to see Liam Payne alive has revealed how the star displayed “disturbing” behaviour shortly before he died.
The woman also told of a shocking admission the former One Direction star made minutes before he fell to his death from a hotel balcony.
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This is understood to be the final photo of Liam
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White powder and burnt aluminium foil were allegedly found inside Liam Payne’s hotel room
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A smashed up TV and champagne glasses were also picturedCredit: Clarin
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Liam pictured performing at MetLife stadium in 2015Credit: AP
She said Liam told her: “I used to be in a boy band – that’s why I’m so f**ked up.”
Rebecca, not her real name, was also staying at the CasaSur Hotel in Argentina when Liam, 31, fell to his death on Wednesday.
The 28-year-old said she has been left “shaken” by what happened, having seen Liam just moments before he died.
She told the Mail how “there was something a bit desperate” about Liam’s behaviour.
Rebecca encountered Liam in the foyer of the hotel in Buenos Aires on Wednesday afternoon and took photos of him at 4.26pm local time (8.26pm UK time).
Police were called to the hotel at 5.04pm after Liam fell, and after an ambulance arrived at 5.11pm he was declared dead.
Rebecca, from Washington DC, said staff at the hotel were “a little on edge” because Liam hadn’t checked out of his suite as he was due to that morning.
She said when she entered the lobby area, Liam was waiting by the lift and “wanted someone to recognise him”.
Rebecca added: “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.
One Direction stars break silence & make heartbreaking tribute to Liam Payne after ex-bandmate dies in tragic hotel fall
“I know Americans. You guys are f***ing crazy! You guys are f***ing dangerous!
“And then he grabs a girl who I think was with him and starts fake choking her, only lightly, but the others thought it was really disturbing.”
Rebecca said when she returned to the foyer around ten minutes later, Liam came back to the area and laid on the sofa with his laptop.
She claims he became “upset” by an email on his screen and shouted “f**k this s**t mate” before smashing the laptop on the ground.
Rebecca added: “Everyone, especially the staff was really shocked. It’s a high-end hotel and his behaviour was so out of place – people were just chilling.
“I went over, asked ‘are you OK?’ But he just kind of grunted. Then he said ‘I used to be in a boyband. That’s why I’m so f**ked up.”
Rebecca said hotel staff were “freaking out and watching him really nervously”.
She also claims someone “from his entourage” apologised on Liam’s behalf and said: “I’m sorry, he just gets so high sometimes.”
Moments later, Rebecca said Liam again returned to the lobby and “just tripped and fell flat on his face”.
She said staff then helped him back in the lift.
Brett Watson, another guest at the hotel, said he and others saw Liam “causing a disturbance” minutes before he died.
Watson, from Chicago, told ITV Liam appeared to “pass out” in the lobby before he “had to be physically taken back up to his room”.
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The singer fell to his death into the courtyard of the CasaSur HotelCredit: Reuters
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Police pictured outside the hotelCredit: AP
A 911 call from hotel staff on Wednesday revealed they needed “urgent assistance” from cops to help with a guest “behaving erratically”.
Recordings from the 911 calls made by the head of reception show them reporting “a guest who is destroying everything in his room”.
In a second appeal for help the receptionist said: “We need you to send someone urgently because I don’t know if the guest’s life is in danger.
“They must be in a room that has a balcony. And well, we’re a little bit worried he’ll do something, that he’ll put his life at risk.”
Liam – who was in Buenos Aires for a holiday after going to see pal Niall Horan’s tour – was found dead in the hotel’s inner courtyard at after 5pm local time (9pm UK time).
His death was confirmed as soon as ambulance crews arrived.
Cops discovered “what appeared to be narcotics, alcohol, destroyed objects and furniture” in his room at the Hotel CasaSur in Palermo.
Photos published by Argentine media showed white powder, burnt aluminium foil and a smashed TV screen inside his suite.
Forensic teams reported that a whiskey bottle, lighter and mobile phone were retrieved from the building’s internal courtyard where Liam’s body was found.
But cops are yet to confirm what the substances found in the room are and are due to run tests on them shortly.
The singer had been open about his battles with addiction in the past.
Officials have said “everything indicates” that he was alone when he died and could have been partly or fully unconscious when he fell.
A full toxicology report is still pending and could take weeks to become public.
