Deadline looms for Andre Rebelo to bring forward evidence that could clear him of murder

Andre Rebelo’s defence team has been given a deadline to bring forward evidence they say will clear him of murder – otherwise his appeal will be thrown out.

Rebelo was sentenced to a minimum of 25 years in jail after being found guilty of the “deceitful”, “callous” and “violent” murder of Colleen Rebelo following a trial in the WA Supreme Court in November 2024.

He also pleaded guilty on the eve of his trial to several fraud charges relating to Colleen’s will and life insurance policies he had taken out in her name.

An appeal filed in May last year homes in on a theory that the hot water in the shower was still running when Colleen’s body was found by her youngest son Fabian proved Rebelo could not have killed her in the time period the prosecution alleged.

The appeal focused on the testimony of Rebelo’s older brother Julian, who told the court their mother’s hot water system was “an older-style storage hot-water system”, which would have given “30 to 40 minutes’ continuous hot water capacity”.

“The significance of those matters in combination is that someone must have turned on the hot water to the shower by around 1.50pm or thereabouts at the latest,” the appeal read.

“In the absence of some other person entering the dwelling, the only person who could have turned on the hot water in the shower was Ms Rebelo herself.

“She could not have done that if she had been killed by the appellant before 11.40am.

“That would leave an event such as a cardia arrhythmia or an anaphylactic episode (or similar) as the only plausible cause of death.”

However, lawyers acting for Rebelo have drawn out the appeals process and on Thursday were warned their case could be dismissed if they don’t make progress soon.

On Friday, that threat was cemented with a deadline of February 16.

During the hearing, defence lawyers told the court they were waiting on information from Dr Reimar Junckerstorff “with regard to certain material that has come to light … from a close family member”.

That information is in relation to a potential genetic variant Colleen Rebelo may have had, the court was told.

Junckerstorff, a forensic pathologist, gave evidence during Rebelo’s trial as a witness for the prosecution that a person could be rendered unconscious within 10 seconds then killed without a mark being left on their body using law enforcement and martial art techniques.

A post-mortem revealed no obvious cause of Colleen’s death.

During the trial, Junckerstorff said depriving a person of oxygen by blocking their airways and compressing their carotid arteries impaired blood flow to the brain.

He said the technique was once used by law enforcement and in martial arts when a person tightened their arm around the neck to suppress the carotid arteries and close them off.

“This is an asphyxia event,” he said.

“It usually won’t leave a mark, if you keep the hold long enough (you can kill a person).

“Once you are unconscious, which takes about 10 seconds, within minutes there are irreversible changes in the brain.”

He also said that minor injuries found on Colleen after her death could have come from her being smothered with a pillow.

Rebelo’s case will be back before the Supreme Court on February 16.

With 9 News Perth.