The dark secret of the influencer couple’s lavish life and why he killed his mother

ONLINE, Andre Rebelo and Gracie Piscopo looked like the perfect couple living a life of luxury with their son.

But behind closed doors, away from their thousands of fans, the couple struggled to keep track of their spending.

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They showed trips to the Maldives, driving a blacked-out Range Rover as Gracie posed with her favorite designer bag of the moment.

But while Gracie closed six-figure deals as a model and influencer in 2020, the couple’s spending continued to rise, reports Mommy.

It appears that the financial struggle led to Andre killing his own mother, 58-year-old Colleen Rebelo, on May 25, 2020, to take out her life insurance.

Gracie has not been accused or involved in his crime.

Prosecutors told a jury in Perth, Australia that while Grace’s career took off, Andre, with whom she shares a child, failed in his cryptocurrency investments and had funded his social media profile.

Debt collectors were circling and the pressure was on to cough up.

So he came up with a plan to make some quick money.

His mother’s body was found in the shower of her Perth home, but her cause of death could not be determined.

Although her death was not considered suspicious for months, an insurance company raised the alarm when Andre tried to claim on her policy.

Andre’s lies to the police and his siblings about visiting his mother that day did not help his case.

He later admitted he was there, but initially denied killing her, claiming he was ‘in shock’.

He revealed to the court that he had discussed insurance policies with her and then left.

In November 2022, Andre was charged with his mother’s murder.

Prosecutor Brett Tooker said Andre was motivated by extreme desperation when his lavish lifestyle collapsed.

“To the outside world they were rich and beautiful, but the truth was different,” Tooker told the court News Corp.

“Andre was in serious financial trouble, he had been living his life on credit, he had a personal loan and credit card debt of over $40,000. Debt collectors were chasing him at the time of his mother’s death.

“In May 2020, he must have thought his world was closing in around him.”

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To keep up with the “glamorous and perfect” lifestyle, Andre secretly took out three life insurance policies worth $1.5 million in his mother’s name and made himself the sole beneficiary of most of it, according to the court was told.

Five days later he carried out his plan and killed her.

Days after her death, Andre had started making claims on the policies, even providing false details about his mother’s health to insurers to get the money.

Andre even spoofed a voicemail from his mother’s psychologist to prove to the insurer that his mother was not suicidal, hoping they would hand over the money.

Andre has been on trial in the WA Supreme Court for eight weeks.

Gracie, who has since moved on and found love again, was asked to testify for the defense and claimed Andre looked ‘normal’ on the fateful day.

She has not been accused or involved in Andre’s crimes and told the court she was largely unaware of the couple’s financial problems as Andre provided the money.

Andre pleaded guilty to fraud, but denied in court that he had murdered his mother.

But the jury disagreed and returned a guilty verdict last Thursday.

Gracie wasn’t in the courtroom when her ex was sentenced, but Andre’s father, Antonio, was.

He told reporters he would support his son and described the verdict as “sad and disappointing”.

André will be sentenced in April.