5 chilling details about Andrea Cincotta's murder 

Andrea Cincotta was found dead from strangulation inside the closet on August 22, 1998. More than 26 years later, the unsolved homicide returns to television when Dateline: Unforgettable airs Season 6, Episode 4, Behind the Closet Door, tonight, Thursday, June 26, 2025, at 8 pm ET / 7 pm CT on Oxygen, with next-day streaming on Peacock.

The two-hour broadcast revisits the cold-case breakthroughs that finally identified serial offender Bobby Joe Leonard as the killer, the controversial murder-for-hire indictment of Andrea Cincotta's fiancé, James Christopher Johnson.

Also, the role Andrea's only son, Kevin, played in reviving the investigation. Prosecutors say Leonard accepted a $5,000 offer to commit the murder, while Johnson, acquitted in 2022, maintains he had no involvement.

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5 key details about Andrea Cincotta's murder explored

1) The killer dunked Andrea Cincotta in a bathtub before hiding her body

Investigators learned that Bobby Joe Leonard placed Andrea in the bathtub to make sure she wasn't breathing before moving her into the closet, according to court testimony as per The Washington Post, October 4, 2022. The unsettling precaution complicated the crime-scene timeline and left detectives debating whether the attack was spontaneous or planned.

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2) A 28-hour interrogation produced a "dream vision" but no confession

Arlington detectives questioned James Johnson for roughly 28 hours over three days, pressing him until he described a hazy "dream vision" in which he might have hurt Andrea, an account the autopsy later disproved. As per an ABC News report dated March 10, 2023, Johnson told the network,

"I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect her."

Despite the interrogation's length, no physical evidence connected Johnson to Andrea’s death.

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3) Leonard's 2018 jailhouse confession contained unreleased crime-scene details

While serving a life sentence for an unrelated r*pe, Leonard told a cold-case detective he strangled Andrea Cincotta after a caller, whom he believed was her boyfriend, offered $5,000 and said the money would be "in the closet," as cited in the Oxygen report dated July 28, 2022.

Leonard described the apartment layout and the bathtub-to-closet staging, facts never made public. As per The Washington Post report dated November 10, 2022, Leonard told the court that he is a "very evil, sadistic person."

His plea agreement secured a second life sentence and provided prosecutors with testimony against Johnson.

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4) Jurors deliberated only one hour before acquitting the fiancé

At Johnson’s 2022 trial, Leonard’s testimony was the lynchpin, yet jurors returned a not-guilty verdict after just 60 minutes. As per an ABC News report dated March 10, 2023, jury forewoman Chen Ling remarked,

"You don't hire someone to kill someone whom you've never met."

Several jurors later questioned why the prosecution advanced a case that rested almost entirely on Leonard’s word.

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5) Andrea Cincotta's son pressed investigators for years

Kevin Cincotta urged police to reopen his mother's file in 2013 and cooperated with undercover operations that ultimately led to Leonard's confession. Following Leonard's sentencing, Kevin expressed mixed emotions. As per the Oxygen report dated July 28, 2022, Arlington Police Chief Andy Penn acknowledged Kevin's persistence, stating,

"The passage of time does not diminish the need for answers and accountability in this senseless crime that took Andrea’s life."

Even with Leonard behind bars, Kevin believes unanswered questions about investigative errors still overshadow full closure in the Andrea Cincotta case.

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Stay tuned for more updates.