The doctor of a mother who was allegedly murdered by her son for money has told the WA Supreme Court he found it ‘slightly suspicious’ a box of her medication was missing on the day she died, a court has heard.
Dr Niall Barrett was under cross examination in the murder trial of Andre Zachary Rebelo, who is accused of killing his mother Colleen Rebelo to gain money from life insurance policies he took out against her in the week before she died.
Rebelo has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge.
His defence lawyer Anthony Elliott questioned the doctor about a missing box of medication belonging to Ms Rebelo.
She had been prescribed 125 micrograms of thyroxine medication to treat hypothyroidism, but police only seized a box of 75 micrograms from her home on the day she died.
Under questioning, Dr Barrett told the court if someone had stopped taking medication to treat hypothyroidism it would take about 10 years to kill them.
‘If you hadn’t taken the medication from the day (she was prescribed the tablets) onwards you would not have caused her death, it would have taken 10 years to kill her,’ Dr Barrett said.
‘I don’t think you should lead people that it is a highly critical dose.
Andre Zachary Rebelo (pictured with ex Gracie Piscopo) is accused of killing his mother to gain money from life insurance policies he took out against her days before she died
Defence lawyer Anthony Elliott questioned the doctor about a missing box of medication belonging to Colleen Rebelo. Picture: NewsWire / Ross Swanborough
‘ I want to make sure everybody is clear.’
Dr Barrett told the defence lawyer it was an ‘overstatement’ to say it was odd a box of 50 microgram tablets had not been found in Ms Rebelo’s fridge.
He said there could be many explanations why the medication was not found at her home on the day she died, but found the fact the box was missing was ‘slightly suspicious’ because of the person Ms Rebelo was.
‘On the last time I spoke to her she brought (youngest son) Fabian in with his diabetes, she said she had finished her master’s in health and was given a position on the board of health,’ Dr Barrett said.
‘She was very happy at that time.
‘I think she was in a more positive state of mind than when I last saw her, she hadn’t got through her degree or had a good job.’
A day earlier on Tuesday, the jury heard Ms Rebelo did not have any serious health issues that would have shortened her life when she was found dead in her Bicton home four years earlier.
Dr Barrett said his patient was a fit and healthy 58-year old woman but had three health issues which were being treated with medication – an under active thyroid, osteopenia and gastritis.
‘I don’t think anything was being ignored,’ he said.
Dr Barrett told the court Ms Rebelo also saw him to get a mental health plan and referral to see a psychologist, and he had diagnosed her with generalised anxiety disorder.
Colleen Rebelo’s GP Dr Niall Dermott Barrett told the WA Supreme Court he found it ‘slightly suspicious’ a box of his patient’s medication was missing.
He said his patient’s anxiety had been triggered by her marriage breakdown and the stress of supporting four children on her own.
He said she was also completing a master’s degree and working at the time.
‘She was very demanding of herself; I don’t think at any stage she was anything but forward looking,’ Dr Barrett said.
‘She had a great relationship with her kids but did not feel like she had a lot of support from friends or family.’
Endocrinologist Timothy Welborn told the court Ms Rebelo did not die of thyroidism.
Dr Welborn was called as an expert witness in the trial telling the court you did not die of Hashimoto disease unless you had the condition untreated for 10 to 15 years.
The specialist with 60 years experience in the field told the court Ms Rebelo had the condition for 22 years and hadn’t run into much trouble as far as he knew.
‘She was probably a bit forgetful from time to time but attended to regular blood tests, they were mildly abnormal but not hugely abnormal, eventually she got it right by March 3, 2020,’ he said.
Colleen Rebelo (pictured) was a fit and healthy woman when she died in 2020, the court heard this week
‘As far as I know she was pretty normal on the day of her death.
‘If she had stopped taking medication it would have been pretty evident to her friends and family.’
Dr Welborn told the court there was no risk if a person took their medication then did not take it the next day.
He said there was a fringe study from Korea that talked about an increased risk of death in people with thyroidism but it had not been reconfirmed.
He said it showed there was a slight increase from 1 to 1.25 persons in 1000 that could die from sudden death.
‘A slight increase in risk that does not bear on significance,’ he said.
Dr Welborn said he was convinced Ms Rebelo had a healthy heart and it was ‘very unlikely’ she died of sudden death.
‘There is a low statistical probability, I can’t definitely say she didn’t die of sudden death, but it is very unlikely,’ he said.
Andre Zachary Rebelo, who has a child with model Gracie Piscopo, has been charged with murdering his mother in May 2020 to gain money from life insurance policies he took out against her a week before she died
Ms Rebelo’s son Andre Zachary Rebelo is on trial in the WA Supreme Court for her murder. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Last week, the court was told Mr Rebelo took out three life insurance policies against her in the week before her death.
Days after Ms Rebelo died, Mr Rebelo started the claims process to access the insurance premiums.
The court was told he submitted forged documents to one of the insurers, including false medical information about his mother, a coroner’s report and her last will and testament.
He pleaded guilty to four charges of fraud in relation to the forged documents.
Ms Rebelo’s cause of death has never been established.
The court was told while her death was unexpected it was not treated as suspicious by first responders who were called to Ms Rebelo’s home when she died.
One of the insurers reported the claim to police after suspecting it was fraudulent.
The trial continues.
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