With tears in his eyes, Neil begged his fiancee to return home. But he had buried her just metres away.

Content Warning – This post discusses domestic violence and may be triggering to some readers.

In August 2015, Neil Archer spent weeks begging his fiancee Jody Meyers to come home.

Appearing on countless news broadcasts alongside his mother Margaret Archer, Neil pleaded for help in finding the young mother who had gone missing after a family party.

But in the end, it was all just crocodile tears.

For the entire month that Jody was missing, Neil and Margaret knew exactly where she was.

In fact, the young mother's body was buried just metres away from where the pair played to the cameras time and time again.

The mother-of-one was last seen at a surprise birthday party for her stepfather.

Throughout the entire day, tension between Neil and Jody was building.

Sitting in his Ford 4WD outside the party, Neil refused to come inside to join the party and he wouldn't accept food from Jody or her family.

Back at their home after the party, Neil "completely lost control", strangling his partner using the cord of the hoodie jumper he was wearing.

The next day, Neil's mother helped her son cover up his horrific crime. They visited an ATM where they withdrew $250 from Jody's account before visiting a hardware store to buy cement.

Back at Neil's mother's house, Neil buried Jody in a shallow grave concealed under a poorly constructed concrete slab.

While Neil was outside burying Jody's body, the couple's two-year-old son was "looking for his mama" inside the family home.

Days later, Neil's father Lawrence returned home from an interstate trip. Neil told him that he had laid the concrete slab as an early Father's Day "surprise".

A month after murdering the 20-year-old, Jody's body was found on Margaret and Lawrence's property. The hoodie cord was still clearly around her neck.

Tears in court as man who murdered fiancée near Mannum jailed for at least 22yrs. Jody Meyers' body was found buried under a concrete slab. pic.twitter.com/IY1EqbWWfu

— 7 News Adelaide (@7NewsAdelaide) June 2, 2017

In 2017, Neil was sentenced to at least 22 years behind bars for murdering his fiancee.

Justice Trish Kelly said the relationship between the couple appeared to be a classic case of one marked by domestic violence.

His mother, Margaret, was sentenced to six years in prison for helping her son.

If you or someone you care about is living with family violence please call safe steps 24/7 Family Violence Response Line on 1800 015 188 or visit www.safesteps.org.au for further information.

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