Andre Rebelo murder trial: Influencer Gracie Piscopo takes the stand in defence of ex, reveals earnings

The Andre Rebelo murder trial took a surprising twist on Monday after the crypto-trader’s ex-girlfriend – social media star Gracie Piscopo — was called to give evidence in his defence. The influencer and model — who shares a son with the 28-year-old — has been notably absent from proceedings but in a shock development, took the stand at the Supreme Court murder trial in the afternoon to testify. Mr Rebelo is accused of killing his mother Colleen in May 2020 before fraudulently trying to claim $500,000 from one of three life insurance policies he had taken out in the week before her death. Before the trial began, he admitted he forged his mother’s will, two medical certificates and a Coroner’s report to try and get the insurance firm to pay out. But he denies he murdered his mother. Prosecutors claim one of the reasons why Mr Rebelo took out $1.15 million in life insurance policies against his mother then killed her was because he and Ms Piscopo were heavily in debt. The trial has previously been told the pair owed more than $100,000. It was also revealed during the trial Mr Rebelo had debts totalling more than $40,000, collection agencies on his case, had late payments on rent and the Range Rover. Ms Piscopo has over one million followers on Instagram, and more than 250,000 on YouTube with the former couple’s lives extensively documented on the social media channels. The court was told her earnings had risen to six figures between 2018 and 2020. Mr Rebelo was earning a fraction of that, with much of it coming as a fee for assisting Ms Piscopo. He also became the full-time carer for their young son. And regular investments in cryptocurrency were coming from borrowed money, via a credit card and a personal loan. In her testimony, Ms Piscopo, who burst into tears when asked about her son’s name, told the jury she had known her ex for roughly 10 years and that the pair were together for around seven or eight years. The 28-year-old mother was then asked a series of questions relating to her employment and how much she earned with the court told she could rake in thousands of dollars for one single post. Ms Piscopo told the trial she loved what she did explaining there was a lot involved in producing the content she posts online and how she spent years building a “community” that she is now able to “give back and give advice” to. She said most of her content was around fashion but also beauty and homewares and also revealed she had her own jewellery business that she rebranded this year. The court was then told how much she earned as a social media influencer with Ms Piscopo explaining she could be paid up to $8000 for a post on Instagram and $4000 for a video on TikTok. Her biggest pay out, she said, was a “collaboration” with a particular brand that earned her almost $80,000. Mr Rebelo’s lawyer, Anthony Elliott, then asked Ms Piscopo a series of questions about the couple’s financial position at the time of Colleen Rebelo’s death. Ms Piscopo told the court 2020 was a “pretty good year” for her financially despite the couple being rejected for 14 loans. When asked who managed the finances, she said Mr Rebelo handled the “bookkeeping side of things” in relation to her social media empire, while she concentrated on the “creative” element adding he was also her photographer. “We worked as a team… and looked after Romeo,” she added. When asked about her ex-partner’s crypto currency interests, Ms Piscopo admitted she rarely paid attention to what he told her saying it “wasn’t my interest”. But she did tell the court he had told her that he withdrew money from his crypto wallet at one point but she was not sure when. She also testified that he hoped to “make six figures” from what he invested and that she felt like he was “working on it” for a few years. When asked if he ever mentioned how volatile the crypto market was, Ms Piscopo said he did, adding that she remembered the state of the cryptocurrency market being up at the time of Mrs Rebelo’s death in May 2020. Prosecutors allege Mr Rebelo came up with a plan to take out life insurance policies on his mum then killed her to get himself out of debt. The trial continues.