A crypto trader and former partner of a glamorous Instagram model has been found guilty of murdering his mother to claim half a million dollars of life insurance.
Andre Zachary Rebelo, 28, showed little emotion except for a slight smile and raised eyebrows as the 12 person jury announced their verdict on Thursday after two days of deliberation following a marathon murder trial in WA’s Supreme Court.
Colleen Rebelo, 58, was found dead in the shower by her youngest son in her Bicton home in Perth’s south-west on May 25, 2020.
Rebelo’s father Antonio, was among those in the packed courtroom, the West Australian reported.
Prosecutors argued Ms Rebelo was ‘healthy and happy’ woman who could not have died of natural causes or suicide.
Although a coroner failed to rule on a definitive cause of death, they suggested Ms Rebelo could have been asphyxiated.
At the time of the tragedy, Rebelo and his former influencer partner Grace Piscopo, who has more than one million Instagram followers, appeared to be living a carefree lifestyle of luxury.
Social media posts showed them enjoying lavish holidays, driving flashy cars and living in pampered opulence.
Andre Rebelo, 28, has been found guilty of murdering his mother to claim insurance he took out against her life
Colleen Rebelo (pictured) was found dead in her Perth home in May 2020
However, it was all funded by credit, prompting Rebelo to attempt to cash in a $500,000 life insurance policy he had created and taken out in his mother’s name just days before her death.
Police discovered Ms Rebelo’s life was insured for $1.5million across three separate policies, with Rebelo being the beneficiary of two.
Rebelo’s twin sister and his two brothers testified that they knew nothing of the insurance policies taken out on their mother before she died.
Ms Piscopo also took the stand during the eight-week trial and said Rebelo had told her he was at his mother’s house on the morning of her death.
However, secretly taped conversations between the pair months later suggested this was not true and that he hid his location from her.
Leading up to his mother’s death, Rebelo owed more than $40,000 on a personal loan and in credit card debt.
His then-partner Ms Piscopo owed $70,000 on a car and $40,000 to the Australian Taxation Office, although she was unaware of that because Rebelo managed the couple’s finances.
They were even struggling to make rent payments on their Beaconsfield townhouse in south-west Perth.
Prosecutors argued Rebelo came up with ‘a horrible plan; to fix this situation’.
They showed on May 1, 2020 he created an email address in his mother’s name and then on May 18 he took out a life insurance policy in her name.
Rebelo with his former partner Grace Piscopo, who has over 1 million followers on Instagram
On May 19 he created another policy and a third on May 20 without telling anyone else.
Rebelo visited his mother around 10.30am on the morning of May 25 and stayed for an hour.
Two hours later his mother’s body was found slumped forward in her ensuite shower still wearing her gold jewellery and mascara.
The discovery was made by Rebelo’s youngest brother Fabian, who had expected the devoted mum to pick him up from work.
Three days later Rebelo tried to claim the largest policy, worth $500,000 with RAC, that he made in his mother’s name.
To this end he took his mother’s driver’s licence without his brother’s knowledge and created a fake version of her will, naming himself the sole beneficiary.
He also created fake medical reports from Ms Rebelo’s psychologist, along with a bizarre AI-generated voicemail and even forged coroner’s report complete with signature, which stated the cause of death as a berry aneurysm.
In social media posts Rebelo and Ms Piscopo appeared to be living a care-free life filled with luxury possessions and opulent lifestyle choices
However, insurance staff became suspicious and alerted police.
When police took in Rebelo and Ms Piscopo for questioning, they discovered he had promised her that $500,000 was about to hit their account from his crypto trading a week before his mother’s death.
Rebelo maintained his innocence throughout the trial.
Police pinpointed Rebelo’s location from his phone at his mother’s place the morning of her death.
However, he testified that he had been there to drop clothes off for his brother and stayed for a coffee and a chat.
Despite the impression given by their social media posts Rebelo and Ms Piscopo were deeply in debt to create their perfect life
He told the court he decided to claim on life insurance for the benefit of the whole family but eared he was defrauding the insurers because he thought his mother had committed suicide, leading to his counterfeits.
Rebelo’s father Antonio told reporters outside the court that he still believed in his son’s innocence.
‘It’s sad, disappointing for everyone. Very sad for everyone,’ he said,
Rebelo will be sentenced in April next year. He remains behind bars.
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