Online, Andre Rebelo and his former partner, influencer Gracie Piscopo, appeared to live a lavish lifestyle. The couple flaunted luxury holidays, designer clothes, high-end accessories, an expensive car, and a beautiful home.
However, behind the scenes, they were struggling financially and unable to sustain their extravagant spending.
By 2020, Piscopo was landing lucrative deals and earning a six-figure income as a model and influencer, but the couple’s expenses were rapidly consuming everything she made, according to WA Today.
In December, prosecutors told a Perth jury that while Piscopo’s career was flourishing, Rebelo—who shares a child with her—was facing mounting failures in cryptocurrency investments and was funding his online image.
With debt collectors closing in, the pressure to find money grew. Rebelo devised a shocking plan to escape financial ruin: murder his mother and collect her life insurance.
In late 2024, Rebelo stood trial in Western Australia’s Supreme Court, charged with the murder of his mother, 58-year-old Colleen Rebelo, on May 25, 2020. After an eight-week trial, he was found guilty.
On Tuesday, April 1, 2025, he was sentenced to a minimum of 25 years in prison, according to the ABC.
A desperate scheme.
Andre Rebelo’s mother was found dead in the shower of her home in Bicton, but authorities were initially unable to determine her exact cause of death.
For several months, her passing was not treated as suspicious—until an insurance company flagged concerns when Rebelo attempted to file a claim.
In November 2022, Rebelo was officially charged with her murder.
State prosecutor Brett Tooker described Rebelo’s actions as being driven by overwhelming desperation.
“To the outside world, they appeared wealthy and glamorous, but reality told a different story,” Tooker said in court, as reported by NewsCorp.
“Andre was in severe financial distress—he had been living on borrowed money, with over $40,000 in personal loan and credit card debt. At the time of his mother’s death, debt collectors were actively pursuing him.
“By May 2020, it’s likely he felt his entire world was caving in.”
In an effort to maintain the appearance of a “perfect and luxurious” lifestyle, Rebelo secretly took out three life insurance policies on his mother, totaling $1.5 million, and named himself the primary beneficiary for most of the payout, the court heard.
Five days later, Rebelo put his plan into action.
He admitted to being at his mother’s house the morning she died but chose not to tell his siblings or the police. He claimed he kept it quiet because he was in shock. In court, he said he had spoken to his mother about life insurance policies before leaving, according to the ABC.
Just days after her death, Rebelo began attempting to claim the insurance payouts, even going so far as to provide one insurer with falsified documents regarding his mother’s death and medical history.
In a further attempt to secure the payout, he faked a voicemail from his mother’s psychologist to convince the insurer she was not suicidal, hoping it would help release the funds.
Gracie Piscopo, who is not accused of any involvement in Rebelo’s actions, was called as a defence witness during the trial. She testified that on the day of the murder, Rebelo appeared “ordinary,” per the ABC.
She told the court she was largely unaware of the couple’s financial struggles, as Rebelo looked after the money.
But the jury saw it differently. On December 12, they unanimously found that Rebelo had murdered his mother, Colleen, during his visit to her home.
Gracie Piscopo was not present in court for the verdict, but Rebelo’s father, Antonio, was. Speaking to reporters, he said he would continue to support his son and called the outcome “sad and disappointing.”
The ‘ultimate betrayal’.
During sentencing on Tuesday, Justice Bruno Fiannaca addressed the WA Supreme Court, describing the murder as a “monstrous act” and the “ultimate betrayal.”
He noted that the exact details of Colleen Rebelo’s death may never be known.
“You staged your mother’s body in the shower to make it appear as though she had died of natural causes. In doing so, you stripped her of her dignity,” Fiannaca said, according to the ABC.
He added, “The persona you crafted was more important to you than the bond with your own mother.”
The judge also reflected on the consequences for Rebelo’s six-year-old son, saying one of the most tragic outcomes is that the child “will grow into adulthood only knowing his father as an inmate in prison.”
Outside the courtroom, Antonio Rebelo told the media he continued to stand by his son.
“We don’t really know what happened to his mother, and we still don’t know what happened,” he said.
“It’s sad for everyone, for all the families involved.”
Andre Rebelo was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 25 years, with the sentence backdated to November 2022.
Since then, Gracie Piscopo has moved on from the relationship, revealing in December that she is now with Daniel Classen.
The influencer shares glimpses of their life together on social media, including romantic picnics and trips abroad to destinations like Fiji, Indonesia, and New Zealand.
This article was originally published in December 2024 and has since been updated.
