Andre Rebelo and Gracie Piscopo lived a lavish life. He killed his mother to keep it.

Online, Andre Rebelo and ex-partner influencer Gracie Piscopo lived a life of luxury. They enjoyed flashy holidays, an expensive car, clothing, accessories and a nice house.

But behind closed doors, the couple were struggling. They couldn't keep up with their spending.

By 2020, Piscopo was bringing in big contracts and making six figures as a model and influencer, but the couple's outgoings were swallowing everything up, per WA Today.

In December, prosecutors told a Perth jury that Piscopo's career was taking off. Meanwhile, Rebelo, with whom she shares a child, was failing in his cryptocurrency investments and had bankrolled his social media profile.

Debt collectors were circling, and the pressure was on to pay up. So, he came up with a plan to make money fast: kill his mother and claim her life insurance.

Late last year, Rebelo spent eight weeks on trial in WA's Supreme Court where he was found guilty of murdering his mother, 58-year-old Colleen Rebelo, on May 25, 2020.

On Tuesday, April 1, 2025, he learned his fate, when he was sentenced to at least 25 years behind bars, per the ABC.

Watch: Andre Rebelo found guilty of murdering his mother. Post continues below.

A desperate plan.

Rebelo's mother's body was found in the shower of her Bicton home, but her cause of death could not be determined.

Her death was initially deemed unsuspicious for months until an insurance company raised the alarm when Rebelo tried to claim.

In November 2022, Rebelo was charged with his mother's murder.

State prosecutor Brett Tooker said Rebelo was motivated by extreme desperation.

"To the outside world they were rich and beautiful, but the truth was different," Tooker told the court, per Newscorp.

"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. He was being pursued by debt collection agencies at the time of his mother's death.

"By May 2020, he must have thought his world was closing in around him."

To keep up with the "glamorous and perfect" lifestyle, Rebelo secretly took out three life insurance policies worth $1.5 million in his mother's name and made himself the sole beneficiary for the majority of it, the court was told.

Prosecutors said Andre Rebelo was motivated by extreme desperation. Image: Instagram.

Five days later, he enacted his plan.

Rebelo admitted he was at his mother's home the morning she died but kept it a secret from his siblings and police. He claimed it was because he was in shock and told the court he discussed life insurance policies with her and left, per the ABC.

Just days after she died, Rebelo started claiming against the policies, going as far as providing one insurer with fake records about his mother's death and health.

He even faked a voicemail from his mother's psychologist to prove to the insurer his mother was not suicidal in hopes they would hand over the money.

Piscopo, who is not accused of any involvement in Rebelo's crimes, was called as a defence witness in the trial and testified Rebelo appeared "ordinary" on the day he murdered his mother, per the ABC.

She told the court she was largely unaware of the couple's financial struggles, as Rebelo looked after the money.

Influencer Gracie Piscopo's former partner Andre Rebelo has been sentenced to at least 25 years in jail for the murder of his mother. Image: Instagram/@graciepiscopo.

Rebelo pleaded guilty to fraud charges but denied he killed his mum.

But the jury didn't agree. On December 12, they unanimously decided he murdered Colleen when he visited her home.

Piscopo was not in court for the verdict but Rebelo's father, Antonio, was. He told reporters he would be standing by his son and described the verdict as "sad and disappointing".

The 'ultimate betrayal'.

In sentencing on Tuesday, Justice Bruno Fiannaca told the WA Supreme Court the murder was a "monstrous act" and the "ultimate betrayal".

He said it might never be known exactly what happened to Rebelo's mother.

"You staged your mother in the shower to make it look like she had died of natural causes. In doing so, you stripped her of dignity," Fiannaca said, per the ABC.

Fiannaca continued: "The persona you had created was more important to you than a familial connection to your mother."

The judge considered the impact of the offending on Rebelo's six-year-old son, saying one of the worst consequences was the boy "will grow into adulthood only knowing his father as an inmate in prison."

The judge acknowledged Rebelo's sentence would have a lasting impact on his young son. Image: Instagram.

Outside court, Antonio told media he still supported 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."

Rebelo's sentence of life imprisonment with a 25-year minimum will be backdated to November 2022.

Piscopo has since moved on from her ex, revealing her new relationship with Daniel Classen in December.

The influencer shares snippets of their life together online, including sweet picnics and overseas holidays to Fiji, Indonesia and New Zealand.

This article was first published in December 2024 and has been updated.

Feature image: Instagram/@graciepiscopo.