A groom who was in Buenos Aires for his wedding and witnessed One Direction star Liam Payne’s fatal fall said he is haunted by the sound of the singer’s body hitting the ground.
Bret Watson was in his first-floor room at the CasaSur Palermo hotel with his wedding planner when they witnessed the 31-year-old’s body in a free fall, Watson told TMZ.
The “Strip That Down” singer died after he plummeted from his third-story balcony on Oct. 16.
“We immediately rushed out onto the balcony to see what it was, and when we looked down we could see that it was Liam lying on the ground. He landed face up, so we could tell right away that it was Liam and he was motionless,” a visibly shaken Watson said.
He added that the worst part of it all wasn’t watching Payne fall, but hearing his body hit the hard ground below.
“Just seeing anyone fall like that is heartbreaking but seeing it happen and hearing the impact on the ground was more haunting than seeing him fall,” Watson said.
“Then seeing the immediate aftermath, it’s something that is burned into my brain. It’s something I’m never going to forget. I’m still working through trying to process and understand everything.”
The groom said he and his wedding guests had also noticed Payne becoming increasingly intoxicated and unstable throughout the day.
But Watson’s account of Payne’s final night, which included seeing the singer being carried by the arms and legs by hotel staff from the lobby to his room, is drastically different from that of Payne’s friend, Roger Nores.
Nores, who prosecutors want to charge with abandonment, insisted Payne was only a little tipsy when he left him alone an hour before the fall.
The clip, shared by TMZ, is part of a special “TMZ Investigates: Liam Payne: Who’s to Blame?” airing Monday evening on Fox.
