An Argentine energy tycoon is among three people charged with manslaughter over the tragic October 16 death of One Direction star Liam Payne. This was despite insisting they had done everything in their power to get troubled singer Liam Payne back on his feet.
Rogelio “Roger” Noles was with Payne in Argentina for several hours before he was fatally injured by jumping from the balcony of his Buenos Aires hotel room. The two met in 2020 at a dinner party held at the London home of former British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful, and quickly formed a friendship.
But a friend of Payne's grieving girlfriend Kate Cassidy told the Post she was relieved that Noles had been charged. She accused the singer of making it difficult to prevent him from falling into his worst impulses and called the late pop singer “more of a yes-man than a true friend.”
“She knew Roger and got along well with him personally, but she didn't think he had much of an influence on Liam. Then Roger accused him of being a buzzkill,'' said a friend of Cassidy's. He asked not to be identified.
“Even before Liam died, she was complaining to me about it. She felt that she was in the mother's shoes and that they were unruly teenagers, but she It wasn’t the role I wanted,” she added.
Noles and two hotel employees, Gilda Martin and Esteban Grassi, were charged with manslaughter by a judge on Monday. The suspects are accused of knowing Payne was extremely intoxicated and failing to intervene to remove her from the hotel room and the open balcony until help arrived.
If convicted, all three could face up to five years in prison.
In Algena, manslaughter is charged when a suspect is allegedly negligent for someone's death, but this does not mean the suspect caused the death.
In Noles' case, the charges were lower than what prosecutors had requested.
Noles was previously charged with abandoning Payne before his death, a more serious charge that carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison if convicted. new york times.
Last month, Argentine prosecutors also charged three other men with providing drugs to Payne, 31, before she died.
It is not clear whether any of the men have responded to the charges. Mr. Noles could not be reached for comment.
Cassidy had flown to Buenos Aires with Payne for a two-week conjugal vacation, but left for her home state of Florida just two days before she fell from a third-floor balcony.
“She knew Liam and Roger had secrets behind the scenes and was complaining about it, like she had no idea what they were up to. Just a few days after I left, there were prostitutes and drug dealers and God knows what else.”
An autopsy later revealed that the pop singer had a toxic cocktail of drugs in her system at the time, including so-called “pink cocaine,” a mixture of crack and ketamine with other drugs.
A few months before his death, Payne was said to have been clean and sober for several months when he flew to Manchester, England with his entourage to film a new Netflix show, Building the Band.
However, Noles, who was still part of the team when the deal with Netflix was struck, warned the vocalist's father and management team in August that his newfound sobriety was in jeopardy. According to previous reports, he wrote the email. Page 6.
“I am really concerned about his health while he is abroad. I will bring in a specialist doctor as soon as possible and regularly monitor his health, just like I did when I was in the US.” I hope you check it out,” Noles wrote. Notes seen by Page Six.
“I plan to stay completely out of the public eye and have no involvement from now on, but I wish Liam all the best in his health and career.''
But Ms Cassidy's friend said that despite her seemingly well-intentioned messages, Ms Noles had a “destructive” influence on Ms Payne.
“True friends sometimes say no when things are disastrous, but Roger never said no. Not to Liam. If Liam wanted something, Roger He would do it, get it, make it happen. It wasn't friendship. He wasn't Liam's friend at all.”
According to the newspaper, the three people charged with manslaughter, including Noles, were barred from leaving the country after the charges were filed.
The newspaper reached out to Noles' girlfriend for comment and sent a text message to a phone number previously known to belong to him, but there was no immediate response.
