Andre Zachary Rebelo allegedly stood to gain $1.15m from life insurance policies he created days before she died

A man who portrayed a glamorous lifestyle on social media but was living well “beyond his means” stood to gain $1.15m from three life insurance policies he took out against 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 in her Bicton home in Perth’s southwest on May 25, 2020. He has pleaded not guity.

State prosecutor Brett Tooker told the WA Supreme Court five days after Mr 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 against her life she was dead.

“Despite intensive investigations the coroner could not establish the cause of her death, it is unascertained.”

In his opening statement, Mr Tooker said Mr Rebelo started 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 state prosecutor told the court Mr Rebelo gave the insurer a forged copy of his mother’s last will and testament in which he had made himself the executor.

The court was told he also provided the insurer forged medical information requests from his mother’s psychologist and left them a fake voicemail message from the health professional that sounded robotic.

He also allegedly gave the insurer a fake coroner’s record about the investigation into his mother’s death which claimed Ms Rebelo died of a brain haemorrhage from a ruptured aneurysm.

“The coroner’s court had not completed a report at this time and did not sign the document,” Mr Tooker told the court.

“The coroner’s finding was a fake, it was created by Mr Rebelo and sent to the (insurer) because they wanted to know the cause of death before they paid out the claim.”

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

The court was told Mr Rebelo worked at Coles, he made about little more than $20 from crypto currency trading and had about $40,000 worth of debt from personal loans and credit cards.

He was being pursued by two debt collection agencies, and had failed to make a rental payment after he asked his property manager if the rent could be reduced on the home he shared with his model de facto 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 how Ms Piscopo had almost one 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 dire financial trouble, he had lived his life on credit, he had a personal loan and credit card debt of more than $40,000 and was being pursued by debt collection agencies at the time of his mother’s death.

“Grace was a successful model, but Mr Rebelo wasn’t keeping up with her, he had debts he could not service.

“He portrayed he was a source of knowledge about crypto currency trading

“They portrayed beauty, money, travel, a baby, and perfect life but the reality was much different.”

Mr Tooker said by the time of his mother’s death, Mr Rebelo must have thought his world was closing in around him.

He said this led Mr Rebelo to take out three life insurance policies against his mother and made himself 100 per cent beneficiary on those policies.

“Premiums had to be paid on all three policies, and when money started coming out of his account and he couldn’t keep up he needed to act which is why five days later he killed his mother, then three days later started pursuing those policies,” he said, laying out the crown’s case.

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 Mr Rebelo’s cell phone data put him in the vicinity of his mother’s home between 10.33am and 11.44am on the day she died.

He said the data supported the state’s case that Mr Rebelo killed his mother then he cleaned up the scene to make it look like she collapsed in the shower.

The court was also told Mr Rebelo did not answer or respond to several “angry” text messages from his former partner that were made between 11.10am and 11.25am on the day his mother died.

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

“He was in process of killing his mother or was in the aftermath of making it look like she had collapsed in the shower.

“It is the state’s case that Andre killed his mother then staged her in the shower to make it look like she suffered a medical episode, collapsed and died in the shower.

“He had a motive to kill his mother, the evidence reveals he was in a poor financial situation and was desperate to maintain his image.

“He took out three life insurance policies against his mother’s life.

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

Defence lawyer Anthony Elliott argued the prosecutor had made colourful claims about his client’s thoughts before his mother died.

Mr Elliott told the court one thing the defence did not challenge 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 being a “mega influencer” and that his client and Ms Piscopo were a very successful team.

“He was the doting father to their young son and the executive assistant helping to keep team Piscopo’s social media presence operating smoothly,” he said.

“When it ran smoothly it made money.

“Suggestions to the effect that he was not keeping up with her are suggestions I ask you to look at critically.”

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

He said when you examined the financial position it was a question of whether these loans put his client in a dire financial situation or were the working capital for a profitable social media business.

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

Mr Elliott told the court the income Ms Piscopo was earning or mega influencers like her could earn would put Mr Rebelo’s financial position into a much broader context.

He also argued the state asserted it would be able to prove the who in relation to Ms Rebelo’s death but not the how.

“One thing to consider is to think about how you can prove someone killed a person but not how they did, if you cannot exclude natural causes of death,” he said.

“Mr Rebelo denies he caused the death of his mother, you still might have no better idea of how she died than you do now.”

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

He said his client admitted to engaging in dodgy behaviour to pursue premiums from the life insurance policies, and had tried to conceal those offences during a police interview that was not about the offence of murder.

“What do we know about how Colleen died or when she died or whether anyone let alone Andre was there at the time she died?” he said.

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

The trial continues.