Liam Payne fue visto discutiendo con una mujer sobre dinero en el vestíbulo de su hotel apenas horas antes de morir al caer de un balcón en Buenos Aires, afirmó un compañero de hotel.

La ex cantante de One Direction, de 31 años, se lanzó desde el tercer piso al patio del Hotel Casa Sur en la capital argentina el miércoles, lo que desató una ola de dolor en todo el mundo.

Tras la tragedia, los huéspedes del hotel compartieron sus escalofriantes recuerdos de los momentos previos a su muerte, incluidos haber escuchado “ruidos violentos” y un “grito”.

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 le dijo a MailOnline en una entrevista exclusiva: ‘Uno de mis amigos debía recibir su suite, por lo que el personal del hotel estaba un poco nervioso porque todavía no había hecho el check out a las 4:30 p. m., pero también por su comportamiento.

‘Entré al hotel y él estaba esperando junto al ascensor. Estaba claro que quería que alguien lo reconociera; había algo un poco desesperado en él.

‘Estaba con mis amigos y sabíamos quién era, pero a ninguno de nosotros nos importó.

‘Cuando llegó el ascensor, de repente nos dijo sin que se lo pidiéramos: ‘Sí, soy Liam’, muy alargado, y luego añadió: ‘Muy bien, vengan todos, suban al ascensor conmigo, me encantan los abrazos’.

Decidí no hacerlo y esperé al siguiente, pero algunas de las otras chicas se subieron con él y a mitad de camino, comenzó a decir: ‘Oh, ustedes son estadounidenses, yo vivo en West Palm Beach.

“Conozco a los estadounidenses. ¡Estáis locos de remate! ¡Sois peligrosos de remate!”