Andre Rebelo trial: Court told of frantic calls on day mum was allegedly murdered by her own son

A series of frantic text messages and phone calls between the children of Colleen Rebelo and influencer Gracie Piscopo have been revealed in court where her son Andre is on trial for her murder.

The phone records were from the day Ms Rebelo was allegedly murdered by her son Andre Zachary Rebelo at her Bicton home. He has denied guilt in his mother’s murder.

The records showed that his then-partner, Ms. Piscopo, sent him a series of angry text messages and tried to call him several times over a 20-minute period on the morning Ms. Rebelo was allegedly killed.

“ANDWRR YOUR F****** PHONE,” “WHERE ARE YOU,” “Omg I swear to God Andre,” “You don’t have a phone??? What is wrong with you,” some messages read.

“For God’s sake, answer me,” and “I’m furious with you, I’m so angry.”

After a 90-second phone conversation between Rebelo and Ms. Piscopo, the alleged killer texted his mother at 12:38 p.m. asking if she was free that day or the next to babysit his son.

About 90 minutes later, Rebelo texted his brother Fabian at 2:08 p.m. saying, “There’s a bag of my old clothes in the hallway because you dropped them off this morning in case mom didn’t see them.”

Fabian responded to his brother Andre and said: ‘Easy cheers.’

Colleen Rebelo was found dead at her home in the Perth suburb of Bicton on May 25, 2020

Fabian tried to call his mother thirteen times that afternoon when she didn’t pick him up after his shift at a local supermarket, and then tried to call his sister Monique.

A minute later she tried to call her mother, but she didn’t answer the phone.

Monique texted her mother asking: ‘Are you okay? Kayla is trying to contact you to pick up her bags.”

From 2.21pm there were a series of text messages between Monique and Fabian about whether they had been able to contact their mother.

About twenty minutes later, Fabian tried to call Monique and texted her: “It’s bad that there is plenty here,” and “Can you come home.”

Fabian tried to call Andre and then texted him: “C. Don’t answer me, mommy’s dead,” and “Please c. don’t come home.’

As of 3:05 p.m., Monique texted Andre, “Did you answer Fabian’s calls, DO IT NOW, COME RIG TO MOTHERS NOW,” “NOW,” and “NOW.”

The court was also told there was a signal between Rebelo’s mobile phone and an Optus cell tower pointing in the direction of his mother’s home on the day she was found dead in the shower.

Optus senior technical specialist Raymond Chang gave evidence in Rebelo’s murder trial and showed the court maps between the suspect’s mobile phone signal and Optus base stations on the day his mother died.

A map produced by WA Police showed a signal from an Optus base station in Mosman Park, pointing to Ms Rebelo’s home address across the Swan River in Bicton.

Prosecutor Brett Tooker asked Mr Chang if it was possible for a signal from a base station on the other side of the Swan River to reach Bicton’s home. He said yes.

He told the court it was also possible for a mobile phone to use different base stations while in the same property for more than an hour as someone moved from room to room.

Police investigations revealed that Rebelo had taken out three life insurance policies against his mother in the week before she died, and then initiated the claims process just days after his mother’s death.

Andre Rebelo (right), the former partner of Insta-famous model Gracie Piscopo (left), was charged in November over the 2020 death of his mother Colleen, 58, in Perth

One of the insurers suspected that the claim was fraudulent and reported it to the police.

The court was told that Rebelo had submitted forged documents to one of the insurers to expedite the claims process, including a forged copy of his mother’s will, a forged copy of a medical report from his mother’s psychologist and a forged copy of a coroner’s report. in her death.

Rebelo pleaded guilty to four counts of forgery but insisted he did not kill his mother.

During the trial, the court was told that Rebelo, along with his partner, portrayed a glamorous lifestyle on social media funded by credit cards and personal loans.

The court was told Ms Piscopo was a successful model and social media influencer, but Rebelo had been living beyond his means and was struggling to repay his financial obligations.

Ms. Piscopo is not accused of any wrongdoing.

A police investigation led to Rebelo being charged with forgery on October 20, 2020.

He declared bankruptcy on March 31, 2022 and was arrested on November 22, 2022 for the murder of his mother.

Ms. Piscopo remained tight-lipped about her boyfriend’s allegations and did not attend his court hearing on Thursday

Prosecutors have argued that Rebelo’s debts led him to take out three life insurance policies against his mother.

Prosecutor Brett Tooker told the court that when money came out of Rebelo’s account to pay the premiums, he had to take action. That’s why he killed his mother five days later.

Although Ms Rebelo’s death was sudden and unexpected, it was not treated as suspicious by first responders who attended her home, the court was told.

Her cause of death was never determined, despite additional tests being performed at her autopsy.

Medical experts, including Ms Rebelo’s GP Niall Barrett and endocrinologist Timothy Welborn, both gave evidence at the trial and told the court Ms Rebelo was healthy when she died.

Both witnesses said it was unlikely that Ms Rebelo died suddenly from the medical conditions she was living with at the time of her death.

Forensic pathologist Reimar Junkerstorff carried out Ms Rebelo’s autopsy and told the court he could not rule out Ms Rebelo dying from asphyxiation or being suffocated.

Her son’s defense team argued that traces of focal subendocardial interstitial fibrosis on Mrs Rebelo’s heart meant she could have died from cardiac arrhythmia, causing her to collapse and die suddenly.

The process continues.