Andre Rebelo found guilty of murdering his mother Colleen in Bicton in 2020

Crypto-trader Andre Rebelo — the former partner of popular social media star Gracie Piscopo — has been found guilty of murdering his mother in a failed plot to claim on life insurance policies he had taken out in her name.

After close to eight weeks of evidence in a trial that heard from about 50 witnesses, a jury delivered a unanimous verdict in the Supreme Court of Western Australia on Thursday.

There was little reaction from Rebelo, 28, as the decision was read out.

Rebelo was accused of killing Colleen Rebelo, a 58-year-old mother of four, so he could cash in on more than $1 million in life insurance policies he had taken out in her name shortly before her sudden, unexplained death.

Her body was found in the shower of her Bicton home in Perth’s southern suburbs in May 2020.

No cause of death has ever been found. She did not have drugs in her system or any physical injuries.

The jury sided with prosecutors who claimed Rebelo had failed to deliver on a promise to his then girlfriend, Instagram-famous Piscopo that he would be successful, and was a man driven by tens of thousands of dollars of debt.

He was taken into custody following an extensive police investigation and charged with murder in November 2022.

He has always denied the allegation and maintains he does not know how his mother’s life ended.

Rebelo also claimed he looked into life insurance policies at his mother’s insistence.

But, before the start of the trial, he did concede he had had forged documents to try and cash in on those policies in the days after his mum’s death.

Rebelo is the ex-partner of Australian influencer Piscopo, with whom he shares a five-year-old son.

Piscopo, who is not accused of any involvement in her former partner’s crimes, testified during the trial that their finances in 2020 were “pretty good” and the pair “worked as a team”.

The social media personality also revealed her star power as an influencer, saying she sometimes earns as much as $8000 for a single photo and one her biggest brand deals was worth close to $80,000.

The jury retired about 4pm on Tuesday and took just under two days to find him guilty.

Rebelo will be sentenced in April.