BUENOS AIRES — Liam Payne’s high roller friend is finally off the hook for the One Direction star’s tragic death in October 2024 after prosecutors formally dropped the manslaughter charge against him, The Post can reveal.
But authorities are still investigating two other men more than 18 months after Payne’s fatal plunge from a Buenos Aires hotel balcony.
Argentine businessman Rogelio Luis “Roger” Nores, 38, has been completely cleared of any wrongdoing, according to court records.
Prosecutors had alleged that Nores acted as a host and controlled the pop singer’s expenses before he fell from a balcony and died after taking hard drugs at the luxury CasaSur Palermo hotel in the Argentinean capital.
“There is no chance that Nores will be brought back into the case. The court was clear in its ruling that cleared him of any criminal wrongdoing,” Nores’ defense attorney Rafael Cúneo Libarona told The Post.
“Roger never had the duty of caring for Payne, much less caring for his addictions. He was not Liam’s guarantor. He was his friend, not his physician, nurse, or therapist.”
Nores was indicted on a manslaughter charge in November 2024, and Payne’s father, Geoff Payne, was a key witness against him.
The manslaughter rap was dropped in February last year but Nores had remained accused of a drug supply charge since June 2025 until that was thrown out this past April,
In a decision signed on June 9, three appeal court judges agreed with the prior ruling that found that Payne, 31, was an adult who was free to decide to use drugs and Nores was not responsible in any way.
That ruling has not been appealed by prosecutors.
Investigators had asked to forensically analyze Nores’ devices and those of two others after a message was discovered on Liam’s phone asking Nores for “six grams,” according to docs.
However, Nores did not reply to the message and the judges at the Buenos Aires Criminal Court of Cassation refused the request, saying there was no evidence that he agreed to supply drugs to Payne.
Prosecutors had also wanted Kate Cassidy –– Payne’s American girlfriend, who had been with him in Argentina but left before his death –– to be summoned as a witness to testify to Payne’s condition at the time.
The judges refused the request in their June ruling, saying that not enough cause had been shown to justify calling Cassidy in.
Meanwhile, two defendants charged with selling cocaine to Payne in the lead up to his death continue to await trial.
Case sources told The Post that there have been negotiations for a plea deal, which could mean that a full trial over Payne’s death never takes place.
Restaurant waiter Braian Nahuel Paiz, 26, and hotel worker Ezequiel David Pereyra, 22, served over one year in police precincts and in a federal prison until they were released in March.
The pair are accused of selling drugs to Payne but if the plea deal goes ahead that charge could be reduced to supply of drugs for free, which carries a maximum sentence of six months.
Given that they have no prior criminal convictions, the sentence would already be covered by time served.
“We would be inclined to accept the offer,” Pereyra’s defense attorney, Augusto Maria Cassiau, told The Post.
Payne’s former partner, Cheryl Cole, is a plaintiff in the case on behalf of their 9-year-old son Bear and could have last say over any plea deal agreed, The Post has been told.
So far, her lawyers have not objected to the rulings in Nores’ favor –– including the recent decision to clear him of all charges –– or in favor of any other defendant.
They have stated their sole interest in the case is to safeguard Liam’s “intimacy, honor and memory,” court documents show.
The Post asked Cole’s lawyers for comment.
In a ruling on July 3, the judge in the case, Karina Andrade, granted prosecutors permission to carry out more forensic analysis on ten cellphones and a flash drive owned by Paiz and Pereyra and seized in police raids.
Investigators will probe text messages, social media conversations and browsing histories in search of any evidence linked to the alleged drug sales.
Two other CasaSur hotel employees — security head Gilda Martin and receptionist Esteban Grassi — previously had manslaughter charges against them dropped.
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