Killers’ crocodile tears
These cold-hearted criminals cried for the cameras to cover their crimes
The manipulative mother
A fter Adelaide man Neil Archer strangled his fiancee Jody Meyers, his mother cried like a baby during an impassioned televised plea for the “missing” mum to come home.
But the Adelaide District Court heard last month that Margaret Archer’s tears were not for her murdered daughterin-law or her two-year-old grandson, who had wandered the house calling for his dead mother – they were for herself and her killer son!
Neil Archer strangled 20-year-old Jody (inset) with the cord from his hoodie at their home in Mannum, South Australia, in August 2015.
Margaret, 57, then bought cement and a wheelbarrow, so her son could cover up his crime by burying Jody’s body under a concrete slab in his mother’s garden shed.
She also used Jody’s bank card to withdraw $250 from her account, and gave the young woman’s family false hope she was still alive by sending them text messages from her phone.
Despite all her tears, Margaret later confessed to assisting her son and directed police to Jody’s body.
At her sentencing, Judge Paul Muscat described her crime as “considered, calculated and deliberate”, adding, “Your involvement in helping to cover up her murder and the many lies you told police, the media, particularly her family, is shocking and incredulous.”
Margaret showed no emotion when she was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in jail. Her son had already been handed a minimum 22 years behind bars for the murder.