The youngest brother of a man who allegedly killed his mother to make money from her life insurance policy has told a court how he pulled his mother’s body from a running shower.
Fabian Rebelo, 23, was the first witness to give evidence in his brother Andre Zachary Rebelo’s murder trial in the WA Supreme Court on Friday.
Andre is accused of killing his mother Colleen Rebelo, 58, who was found dead at her home in Bicton in Perth’s south-west on May 25, 2020, to cash in on three life insurance policies worth a total of $1.5 million to cover his to help finance a lavish lifestyle.
He has pleaded not guilty.
Fabian found his mother’s body in the shower of their home after she failed to pick him up from work and called the emergency services.
Fabian recalled that when he got home, he heard the shower running in his mother’s bathroom and then found her on her knees, slumped over and leaning against the shower wall.
“I called her and didn’t hear anything, so I opened the door and went in,” he said.
‘I walked into the bathroom and saw that she was clearly not doing well and leaned against the bathroom wall.
Andre Rebelo (pictured with his ex-girlfriend, influencer Gracie Piscopo) is charged with the murder of his mother Colleen Rebelo, 58, who was found dead at her home in Bicton in Perth’s south-west on May 25, 2020. He has pleaded not guilty.
His brother Fabian told the court he found his mother’s body in the shower of their home after she failed to pick him up from work and called the emergency services.
“I called triple-0 and resuscitated her.”
Fabian told how he pulled his mother out of the shower and dragged her to the middle of the bathroom floor.
He was instructed to revive her until paramedics arrived about five minutes later.
He told the court that her face was very blue and dark, that she had vomit blood in her mouth and that her skin color was not normal.
‘I grabbed a towel and put it over her genitals. “I didn’t want her lying there naked,” he said.
‘The paramedics went to the toilet and tried to resuscitate her, but quickly realized they were not going to resuscitate her.’
Fabian recalled that quite a few people came to the house after his mother died, including a police officer, his sister Monique, brother Andre and his partner Gracie Piscopo.
He told the court he was staying at Andre and Mrs Piscopo’s home in Beaconsfield the night their mother died, along with his sister Monique.
He said he had a normal relationship with his brother Andrew around the time his mother died and they got along well.
Fabian Rebelo, the youngest brother of Andre Zachary Rebelo, told a court how he performed CPR on his mother but she could not be saved
Public prosecutor Brett Tooker (pictured) told the WA Supreme Court that just days after Colleen Rebelo’s death, her son Andre began making claims on her life insurance policy he had taken out against her in the week before her death.
He told the court that his eldest brother Julian was the executor of his mother’s will and that he handled the financial side of things after she died.
He believed that each of the siblings had an equal share of their mother’s estate, which they received when they sold her house.
Under cross-examination, Fabian told the court he picked up his mother’s body from behind with his arms under her armpits and dragged her to the bathroom floor.
He confirmed to defense lawyer Anthony Elliott that a small amount of blood came from her nose.
On Thursday, the WA Supreme Court was told that Andre Rebelo had taken out three life insurance policies against his mother in the week before her death.
Public prosecutor Brett Tooker told the court three days after Ms Rebelo died that her son Andre had started the claims process to access the insurance premiums.
The jury heard that Andre also submitted forged documents to one of the insurers, including false medical information about his mother, a coroner’s report and her last will.
He pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud relating to the forged documents.
Ms Rebelo’s cause of death has never been determined.
The court was told her death was unexpected but was not treated as suspicious by emergency services called to Ms Rebelo’s home when she died.
Police reopened the case when one of the insurers reported the claim against Ms Rebelo’s life insurance policy, believing it to be fraudulent about three months after her death.
Fabian told the court that all the siblings were beneficiaries of their mother’s estate and received equal shares when her house was sold.
The WA Supreme Court was told by the defense that Andre Zachary Rebelo and his former partner Grace Piscopo (pictured) were a successful team at the helm of a social media presence that generated a significant income.
Public prosecutor Brett Tooker told the WA Supreme Court that Rebelo was found dead in the shower of her home five days after Rebelo took out an insurance policy against his mother.
St John Ambulance paramedic Antony Garcia later told the court that Ms Rebelo’s son Fabian was very upset and shocked when they arrived at the house.
He said Ms Rebelo was lying on her back on the bathroom floor and looked as if she had been in the shower as she was damp and wet and looked deceased.
“The appearance of her skin, especially around her face and neck, there was a blue-gray color to the skin, this is what we look for when someone has been deceased for a while,” he said.
“We attached a defibrillator to the chest and looked at the electrical activity of the heartbeat, there was nothing… it was just a flat line.”
Mr Garcia said he observed no injuries on Ms Rebelo’s body and that no drugs belonging to her were found in the house.
He said the house was very clean and tidy and the bathroom was spotless.
The process continues.