T
The Daily Insight

What happened to Andrea Cincotta?

Author

Emily Cortez

Published Feb 01, 2026

Andrea Cincotta, a 52-year-old neighborhood custodian, was seen as choked to death in August 1988. Her body was found in the wardrobe of her home in Arlington, Virginia, which she imparted to her life partner James Christopher Johnson, who was the main individual to track down her body.

Reports express that Johnson, who was viewed as an essential suspect, admitted to the homicide at first, yet the occasions didn’t make any sense. An upkeep specialist named Bobby Joe Leonard was likewise viewed as a suspect at a certain point. In the years that followed, he was sentenced in an irrelevant r*pe and endeavored murder case.

In 2018, Leonard admitted to the homicide while spending time in jail in jail, charging that he was recruited to perpetrate the wrongdoing by a white man who addressed him over call and seemed like Johnson. The two men were charged in 2021. The sentenced r*pist confessed, while the last option was tracked down not blameworthy in a preliminary.

An all-new NBC Dateline episode, named Behind the Storeroom Entryway, is booked to return to Andrea Cincotta wound and puzzling homicide case. The authority summation of the episode states: “After Andrea Cincotta is found killed in her Virginia home, her child leaves on a 20-year journey for equity that leads him down a dull and contorted way. Josh Mankiewicz reports.” The forthcoming episode airs on the channel this Friday, June 23, at 9 pm ET.

On August 22, 1998, Andrea Cincotta, a single parent of-one, was found dead in the storeroom by her life partner, James Christopher Johnson, who lived in a similar home with her. The 52-year-old filled in as a bookkeeper at that point and had been choked to death.

People on call showed up at the crime location in the wake of getting a bothered call from Johnson, who let them know that the casualty was “cold to contact” when he found her slumped on the storeroom floor in the early morning hours. He likewise educated analysts that coins, packs, and her hatchback Honda Community were absent from the house. Johnson was named the essential suspect and was examined for almost 28 hours in the initial three days of the examination following the revelation he made in the wardrobe of the home they shared.

From the get go, James Christopher Johnson admitted to the homicide of Andrea Cincotta, yet analysts discovered that his adaptation of the occasions were conflicting with the last option’s reason for death. Johnson had claimed that they got into a contention, which swelled into a physical squabble when he pushed Cincotta, thumping her into a room work area. However, the casualty didn’t support gruff power wounds.

A subsequent suspect, support laborer Bobby Joe Leonard, was likewise named during the beginning phases of the examination since he had worked at their high rise preceding the homicide. Besides, the casualty’s child, Kevin Cincotta, and the life partner even educated specialists that the 52-year-old had given Leonard an old PC only a month prior to she was killed. He was gotten free from all doubt by December of that very year. Following this, the case went cold.

This isn’t just the story of a murder. It’s also the story of a son’s persistence…

Tune in Friday at 9/8c for an all-new 2-hour #Dateline mystery with @JoshMankiewicz on NBC.

— Dateline NBC (@DatelineNBC) June 22, 2023


Tune in Friday at 9/8c for an all-new 2-hour #Dateline secret with @JoshMankiewicz on NBC. In 2000, Bobby Joe Leonard was sentenced for r*pe, kidnapping, and endeavored murder in an irrelevant instance of a 13-year-old Fairfax Region young lady. He was carrying out an extended punishment in jail when Andrea Cincotta’s case was re-opened in 2013.

In any case, Leonard kept up with his honesty in the years that followed until 2018, when he made a stunning admission, guaranteeing that he killed Cincotta such an extremely long time back. He guaranteed that he got a call from a unidentified white man who sounded a great deal like the casualty’s life partner, James Christopher Johnson.

According to the admission, the guest offered Leonard $5,000 to kill Cincotta and provided him with an itemized timetable of how to finish the responsibility. The sentenced r*pist and Johnson were then charged for the situation. The previous conceded to first-degree murder, getting a lifelong incarceration, while Johnson was tracked down not blameworthy in a preliminary.