Andre Zachary Rebelo was sentenced to 25 years in prison after he was found guilty of murdering his mother and fraud after taking out three life insurance policies a week before her death
A son harrowingly killed his own mother to get his hands on a £560,000 life insurance premium, which he took out just a week before she was found dead in the shower.
Andre Zachary Rebelo was found guilty of murdering his mum, Colleen Rebelo, 58, and was sentenced in April to 25 years in prison. The killer is now reportedly planning to lodge an appeal.
Colleen, a mum-of-four, was found dead in her shower at home in her Bicton home in Perth’s south-west on May 25, 2020. She was found by her youngest son, Rebelo’s brother, and at first her death wasn’t treated as suspicious.
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A coroner never determined how she died, but when an insurance company suspected Rebelo of fraudulent behaviour, an investigation was launched by police.
Detectives uncovered that the son had taken out three life insurance policies against his mum in the week before she died. They also discovered that he made himself the sole beneficiary of those policies, despite having siblings, and would gain around £560,000 (AU$1.15M) when she died.
In the days after her death, Rebelo started claiming against those policies he had taken out, including one worth an estimated £240,000 (AU$500,000). He had given the insurer a forged coroner’s report, an inaccurate medical report and a fake copy of her last will and testament.
Rebelo pleaded guilty to fraud but denied killing his mum. However, a Supreme Court judge ruled that Rebelo employed “personal violence” to kill her before positioning her body in the shower to make it appear she had died from natural causes.
During his trial, the court heard how Colleen’s youngest son, Julian, had found her in the shower at around 2.30pm, and the water was at a regular temperature. The court also heard how phone records put Rebelo at his mum’s house between 10.33am and 11.40am on that same day.
The court heard that Rebelo was skint at the time of his mother’s passing and was being hounded by debt collectors. During an eight-week trial, it was revealed that the self-proclaimed cryptocurrency day trader hadn’t earned a penny in three years.
He is said to have told his model partner, Grace Piscopo, that he was on the brink of a £240,000 (AU$500,000) windfall. He even portrayed a life of luxury on social media with his partner, with whom he also shared a child, despite his reported financial difficulties.
Rebelo has been given until September 25 by the WA Supreme Court to lodge an appeal.