Crypto trader took out life insurance policy against his own mother just five days before she died and stood to gain $1.5million, murder trial hears

A man who portrayed a glamorous lifestyle on social media but “lived way beyond his means” could make $1.5 million from three life insurance policies he took out on his mother in the week before her death, a court has been told .

Andre Zachary Rebelo is on trial for the murder of his mother Colleen Rebelo, who was found dead at her home in Bicton in Perth’s south-west on May 25, 2020. He has pleaded not guilty.

Public prosecutor Brett Tooker told the WA Supreme Court that five days after Rebelo took out the last policy against his mother, she was found dead in the shower of her home by her youngest son Fabian.

“Colleen Rebelo was a 58-year-old woman who was fit, healthy, happy and had plans for the future,” he said.

“Yet five days after Mr. Rebelo took out the third policy on her life, she was dead.

‘Despite intensive investigations, the coroner was unable to determine the cause of death, it is not certain.’

In his opening statement, Mr Tooker said Rebelo began processing claims on the life insurance policies days after his mother died, with one insurer eventually referring the matter to police, believing the claim was fraudulent.

The prosecutor told the court that Rebelo had given the insurer a forged copy of his mother’s will, in which he had appointed himself executor.

The court was told he also provided evidence that the insurer had falsified medical information requests from his mother’s psychologist and left a fake voicemail message from the healthcare provider that sounded robotic.

He also allegedly gave the insurer a false coroner’s file on the inquest into his mother’s death, which claimed Ms Rebelo had died of a brain haemorrhage caused by a ruptured aneurysm.

“The coroner’s court had not completed a report or signed the document at that time,” Mr Tooker told the court.

“The coroner’s findings were bogus, they were made by Mr Rebelo and sent to the (insurer) because they wanted to know the cause of death before paying out the claim.”

Mr Tooker claimed Rebelo was living beyond his means and was unable to repay his debts.

The court was told that Rebelo worked at Coles, earned just over $20 from cryptocurrency trading and had around $40,000 in debt from personal loans and credit cards.

He was being pursued by two debt collectors and had failed to pay the rent after asking his property manager if the rent could be reduced on the home he shared with his de facto model Grace Piscopo.

Mr Tooker said Ms Piscopo was a successful model and influencer whose income had largely funded the glamorous lifestyle the couple portrayed on social media.

The court was told Ms Piscopo had almost a million followers on Instagram and another 300,000 on YouTube.

“To the outside world they were rich and beautiful, but the truth was different,” Mr Tooker told the court.

“Andre was in serious financial trouble, he had been living his life on credit, he had a personal loan and credit card debt of over $40,000 and was being pursued by debt collectors when his mother died.

‘Grace was a successful model, but Mr Rebelo couldn’t keep up with her, he had debts he couldn’t pay off.

“He portrayed himself as a source of knowledge about cryptocurrency trading

‘They portrayed beauty, money, travel, a baby and the perfect life, but the reality was very different.’

Mr Tooker said that by the time his mother died, Rebelo must have thought his world was closing in around him.

He said this prompted Rebelo to take out three life insurance policies against his mother and make himself a 100 percent beneficiary of those policies.

‘Premiums were due on all three policies, and when money came out of his account and he could no longer keep up, he had to take action. So he killed his mother five days later and started pursuing those policies three days later. He said as he put the crown box down.

Mr Tooker said when emergency services arrived at Ms Rebelo’s home after she was found by her youngest son, there were no obvious signs of death or forced entry.

He said while Ms Rebelo’s death was unexpected, it was not treated as suspicious until the insurer reported the fraudulent claim to police months later.

The prosecutor told the court that Rebelo’s cellphone records placed him near his mother’s home between 10:33 a.m. and 11:44 a.m. on the day of her death.

He said the data supported the state’s claim that Rebelo killed his mother, then cleaned up the scene to make it appear as if she collapsed in the shower.

The court was also told that Rebelo failed to respond or reply to several ‘angry’ text messages from his former partner posted between 11.10am and 11.25am on the day of his mother’s death.

“The state’s case will argue that he didn’t answer his phone because he couldn’t,” Tooker said.

‘He was trying to kill his mother or making it look like she had collapsed in the shower.

“It is the State’s case that Andre murdered his mother and then staged her in the shower to make it appear as if she suffered a medical episode, collapsed and died in the shower.

‘He had a motive to kill his mother. The evidence shows that he was in a bad financial situation and was desperate to maintain his image.

‘He took out three life insurance policies on his mother’s life.

“The time of her death is an important piece of the puzzle: less than a week after he took out the policy, she was dead.”

Defense attorney Anthony Elliott argued that the prosecutor had made colorful claims about his client’s thoughts before his mother died.

Mr Elliott told the court that one thing the defense did not dispute was that his ex-partner was a successful model and social media celebrity.

He said the number of followers she had on Instagram and YouTube earned her the label of “mega-influencer” and that his client and Ms. Piscopo were a very successful team.

“He was the loving father of their young son and the executive assistant who ensured that Team Piscopo’s social media presence ran smoothly,” he said.

‘If things went well, it made money. Suggestions that he didn’t keep up with her are suggestions that I should look at critically.’

Mr Elliott told the court that Rebelo and Ms Piscopo were at the helm of a successful social media presence that generated significant income.

He said when you examined the financial position, the question was whether these loans put his client in a difficult financial situation or provided the working capital for a profitable social media company.

“Look at the quality of any financial problems, you decide whether it was serious or whether he was crippled,” he said.

Mr Elliott told the court that the income Ms Piscopo earned, or that mega-influencers like her could earn, would put Rebelo’s financial position in a much wider context.

He also argued that the state claimed it would be able to prove the who in connection with Ms. Rebelo’s death, but not the how.

“One thing to consider is thinking about how you can prove that someone killed someone, but not how he did it, if you can’t rule out natural causes of death,” he said.

‘Mr Rebelo denies that he caused his mother’s death. Maybe you still don’t have a better idea of ​​how she died than you do now.’

Mr Elliott said many people were in debt to a greater extent than Rebelo, but questioned whether this made anyone guilty of murder.

He said his client admitted to engaging in dodgy conduct to extract premiums on the life insurance policies, and had attempted to conceal these offenses during a police interrogation that did not concern the crime of murder.

“What do we know about how Colleen died, when she died, and whether anyone, let alone Andre, was there when she died,” he said.

“What do we know about whether and how someone caused her death and what do we know about whether Colleen Rebelo was alone when she died?”

The process continues.