Andre Rebelo murder trial: Accused killer of mum Colleen questioned over his relationship with Gracie Piscopo

Andre Rebelo has refuted he felt he was being treated like a “slave” by his influencer girlfriend Gracie Piscopo — and that he tried to defraud a life insurance company because he had promised her a half million dollar windfall. Mr Rebelo is on trial for allegedly murdering his mother Colleen in May 2020, before fraudulently trying to claim on a $500,000 life insurance policy he had taken out in the week before she died. The 28 year-old has admitted to forging his mother’s will, two medical certificates and coroner’s report to try and get RAC to pay out. But he denies killing his mother as part of a plan to get that money. During a third day of cross-examination on Friday, prosecutor Brett Tooker turned to Mr Rebelo’s relationship with Ms Piscopo, which was documented extensively on her wildly popular social media channels. The model and influencer has over one million followers on Instagram, and more than 250,000 on YouTube. Between 2018 and 2020 her online persona began paying off, with WA’s Supreme Court hearing her earnings had risen to six figures a year. Mr Rebelo was earning a fraction of that, with much of it coming as a fee for assisting Ms Piscopo. He also became the full-time carer for their young son. And regular investments in cryptocurrency were coming from borrowed money, via a credit card and a personal loan. Mr Tooker quizzed Mr Rebelo about messages sent between the couple — sometimes when they were both at home — where Ms Piscopo would ask for specific McDonald’s orders, water with a straw along with lists of errands. Mr Rebelo agreed his partner could be demanding. He agreed she was the dominant partner in the relationship. “It was a strained relationship — but mostly good,” he said. “I was happy to be part of a growing business.” But he denied he felt like he was being treated like a slave, that he was subservient and that she was putting pressure on him to contribute more financially. Pointing to secret recordings made by the WA Police in 2020, Mr Tooker highlighted comments made by an emotional Ms Piscopo about the family finances. “By 2020, she had an expectation that you were going to come into half a million dollars didn’t she?,” Mr Tooker asked. “She was putting pressure on you to show something for this money you were putting into crypto. “You came up with this plan to take out life insurance to get yourself out of debt, to prove … you were a successful crypto trader and provide more liquidity?” Mr Rebelo said: “I completely reject that whole idea”. In earlier evidence revealing the surveillance recording made on the day Mr Rebelo was first arrested for fraud in September 2020, he could be heard tentatively admitting to sending documents that “weren’t 100 per cent legitimate” to Ms Piscopo. “The insurance company was being so sh*t and they weren’t going to accept the document — you know the policy was still valid — so I tried to change the date on something,” he said at another point. “Why ... why would you do that. (I) Just wanna cry — I guess we’ll have to talk to a lawyer or something,” Ms Piscopo responded. “You gonna go to jail?” Mr Rebelo says he was confident he wouldn’t. “Are you really that confident they don’t have any evidence on you,” Ms Piscopo said at one point. “Why were they asking me about $500,000? “They’re looking at you with a looking glass and they would’ve seen $500,000 — mum just died — and he’s trying to get life insurance. “You should’ve been extra careful.” The ongoing audio revealed Ms Piscopo’s continuing fear of her partner going to jail, her subsequent life as a single mother and the damage to her reputation. “What if he goes to jail. I’m gonna be a single mum,” she said. “I had nothing to distract me. I just had to sit there in that quiet room by myself with no-one to talk to just thinking of the worst possible outcome “This isn’t okay — what if it gets out? What if it got leaked? What if someone says something? That’s my reputation.” The trial continues.