The name Andre Rebelo appeared in the information over Australia in late 2022 as he was accused of murdering his mother, Colleen Rebelo. A Perth-based former cryptocurrency trader who attracted nationwide interest in the case due to both its horrific yet tragic nature, as well as legal intricacies and a chilling monetary motivation that became apparent during court proceedings. In April 2025, he was convicted of murder in the WA Supreme Court and given a life sentence after a long-watched legal episode.
Who is Andre Rebelo?
Andre Zachary Rebelo was a 1994-born young man residing in Perth, the West Australian region. He was already regularly visible in small online communities as an enthusiast of the bitcoin-related currency and seemed to live a secure economic life. But in real life, he was in debt and was reportedly feeling pressure to present a picture of prosperity.
Rebelo was previously clean of any serious criminal records until his arrest in November 2022. He gained national prominence only after WA Police accused him of one of the most striking crimes in the state, the killing of his mother in an alleged move to include life insurance policies totalling over 1 million.
The Crime and Timeline of Events
This was the case of Colleen Rebelo, 58, who was found dead in her Bicton residence in Perth when she was murdered on 25 May 2020. At first, it seemed that there was no foul play, and other officials did not consider the death as an alarming issue at first. Suspicious, however, started arising as life insurance firms started noticing suspicious claims by Andre Rebelo months after his mother had passed on.
During the weeks before her death, Rebelo applied for three life insurance policies under the name of his mother and made himself the beneficiary. Such policies amounted to more than 1.1 million dollars.
In the course of the investigation, Rebelo turned out to have faked several documents, among them medical records, a report by a psychologist, as well as coroner paperwork to help the insurance claims. In November 2022, he was arrested and officially put on trial for committing murder.
Court Proceedings and Sentencing
The trial of Rebelo in the WA Supreme Court commenced towards the end of the year 2024 and took about eight weeks. The trial involved over 50 testified witnesses, forensics specialists and insurance inspectors. According to the conviction of the prosecution, Rebelo had acted with premeditation and intention to kill his mother to gain profit by the death of his mother.
Rebelo accepted a plea of guilty on fraud and forged document charges, even though, at first, he pled not guilty to murder. He said that he went into shock because of the death of his mother but did not kill her.
On 5 December 2024, a WA Supreme Court jury convicted Andre Rebelo of murder. Justice Bruno Fiannaca handed him life imprisonment on 1 April 2025 with a non-parole of 25 years.
In passing the sentence, Justice Fiannaca called it a cold and calculated crime and remarked that it was a monstrous betrayal of a motherlove and trust. The court observed that Rebelo acted selfishly and greedily and had behaved apathetically in the course of the case.
Media Coverage and Public Reaction
Such Australian media outlets as ABC News, 7NEWS, The West Australian, and 9News reported all the details related to the case because of the financial motivation, the fact that he had forged papers, and the well-planned character of the crime.
There were the usual reactions of shock and horror, especially among the relatively small community of Bicton in Perth. The fact that Rebelo seemed like a very ordinary, normal person on the outside was something that left a mark on many as it was a dramatic contrast between the lies and violence committed by him in the court.
Broad questions were also raised publicly on social media and news outlets that financial pressure, image management online, and acts of fraud have the ability to rise to tragic proportions.
Implications and Reflections
The case of Andre Rebelo has encouraged debates in Australia to question the place of life insurance regulation, the process of document verification and the perils of unregulated financial desperation. However, the deeds of Rebelo were finally revealed, with experts probing and insurance companies questioning the fact that it took time when initially foul activity was identified, concerned people.
Additionally, the case has been the subject of a discussion at an academic and a legal level regarding familial homicide, inheritance killing and manipulation of an institutional institution to benefit oneself.
Conclusion: A Tragic Betrayal and Legal Closure
The case of Andre Rebelo can be marked as the end of the dark period in the history of Western Australian criminality. The premeditated killing of his mother at the cost of a puny bank account shocked the country. It forced people to think deeply about individual accountability as well as weaknesses in the state.
Rebelo will be put on a life sentence, where he will not be eligible for parole until 2047. Regarding his case, it would be hard to forget how greed and deception can cause irreparable results and how justice, though delayed, pays its way eventually due to the persistence of legal inquiry.
