Defence barrister admits Andre Rebelo is a liar - but no leech, and not a killer

The lawyer defending alleged mother murderer Andre Rebelo has closed his case by admitting his client was a liar – but emphatically stating he was not a killer. And he told WA’s Supreme Court that prosecutors had come nowhere near proving he was. After weeks of evidence surrounding the death of mother-of-four Colleen Rebelo – which has included testimony from Mr Rebelo, his siblings, his father and his influencer partner Grace Piscopo the final words from the bar table fell to barrister Tony Elliott. And those word urged a jury to find the 32 year-old crypto-trader not guilty of murder. Despite him admitting to an escalating series of frauds, attempting to claim on life insurance policies in his mother’s name he had taken out days before her death Prosecutors say that was the first piece of a “horrible plan” – to take out $1.15 million in insurance, kill his mother, and then do anything he could to get a payout. But Mr Elliott said there was no plan. There was no murder – and Mr Rebelo should be believed about what he says happened when he visited his mother on the morning of her death. “There are so many pieces of his evidence that are incontestably true – and it is his narrative of May 25 is the critical narrative you’d think,” Mr Elliott said. That narrative has him arriving at the house with a bag of clothes for his brother, finding his mother after she came back in from gardening, and them then chatting for 30 – 40 minutes over coffee. “An imaginary conversation with his mother - it just makes for an amazing story if it works out the way the prosecution is suggesting,” Mr Elliott said. “A very elaborate discussion if it is fiction – and if it is not true, why would it be necessary for him to tell you these details? “The question I pose for you is: What is wrong with that narrative, if anything? Where are the parts that make no sense.” Prosecutor Brett Tooker said one explanation could be that the 58 year-old was asphyxiated in her bedroom and her body then placed in the shower to appear like she had collapsed. But the defence said a smothering or a choking should have inevitably lef to Ms Rebelo fighting back – and there were no defensive injuries on her body, and no injuries at all on her son’s Prosecutors also said it made no sense that Ms Rebelo would want as much as $1.5 million life insurance, or that she would ask her son to take it for her – and have him pay for it. The motive for the killing was borne out Mr Rebelo’s growing debts – and his increasing reliance on the earnings of Ms Piscopo. But Mr Elliott said that suggestion – and the way it was phrased – was offensive. “Do you think that he was leeching off Grace Piscopo by caring on a daily basis for their child – and by looking after her demands?,” Mr Elliott said. Justice Bruno Fiannaca will begin giving his directions to the jury on Monday.