A HOMICIDE investigation finally reached its conclusion when a killer was caught 24 years after they carried out the murder.
For over two decades, Andrea Cincotta’s cold case remained unsolved.
Who was Andrea Cincotta?
Cincotta was a single mother who lived in Arlington, Virginia with her fiancé James Christopher Johnson.
She had a son from a previous relationship named Kevin Cincotta.
The 52-year-old worked as a librarian.
What happened to Andrea Cincotta?
On August 22, 1998, Johnson found Cincotta dead on the floor of her bedroom closet in their Arlington apartment. She had been strangled.
Johnson called the police after discovering Cincotta’s body.
As The Washington Post reported, court documents filed in July 2022 stated that the 52-year-old’s body was “cold to the touch” when Johnson told authorities he found it early in the morning on August 22.
Johnson quickly became a suspect in Cincotta’s murder.
Arlington homicide detectives “interrogated him for 28 hours in the first three days after he found Andrea Cincotta’s body in the apartment they shared.”
As DarikNews reported, Johnson confessed to being involved with his fiancée’s death during the interrogation. However, authorities released him after his details of events did not add up with Cincotta’s cause of death.
Johnson has since discussed his reasoning for making what he claims to have been a false confession.
A man named Bobby Joe Leonard, who did maintenance work in Johnson and Cincotta’s apartment complex, also became a suspect in the case.
Johnson and Kevin Cincotta told authorities that Cincotta had given Leonard the couple’s old computer about four weeks before her murder.
However, Leonard was deemed to no longer be a suspect in December 1998.
In 2000, he was sentenced to life in prison for the abduction, rape, and choking of a 13-year-old girl in Fairfax County, as The Washington Post reported.
Leonard denied murdering Cincotta multiple times over the years when Arlington authorities went to see him in jail.
As reported by The Washington Post, in 2018, he confessed to the killing to Detective Rosa Ortiz but claimed the murder was planned by someone else.
As the publication stated: “He said a white man who sounded like Cincotta’s fiancé had called him and offered him $5,000 to kill her.
“He said the man provided details of Cincotta’s schedule, and that the $5,000 would be in the bedroom closet.
“It wasn’t but Leonard never took steps to collect it before he was locked up for the Fairfax attack.”
In November 2021, both Leonard and Johnson were charged with Cincotta’s murder.
Leonard plead guilty to first-degree murder, while Johnson maintained his innocence.
Following a three-week trial, Johnson was found not guilty. Leonard received a life sentence in November 2022.
How can I watch Andrea’s Dateline episode?
On June 23, 2023, the investigation into Andrea’s murder is retold in a Dateline NBC episode titled Behind the Closet Door.
At 9pm EST, Behind the Closet Door is scheduled to air via the above-mentioned network.
The broadcast features show anchor Josh Mankiewicz as he collects testimonies from Kevin and others who were close to the case.
For those that miss Friday’s airing, there are a couple of streaming options available
Audiences that miss the initial broadcast can check out Andrea and Kevin’s episode via Hulu or Peacock.
Previously, the case was relived in an episode of ABC’s 20/20 titled The Confession? and is also available to view on Hulu.
