Andrea Cincotta was murdered in 1998. In 2018, a man named Bobby Leonard confessed to the murder, and stated that he was hired to commit the murder by Andrea’s then-boyfriend, Chris Johnson. In 2021, both men were indicted by a grand jury. In 2022, Leonard pled guilty and testified against Johnson. Contrary to other reporting, Leonard received absolutely nothing in exchange for his testimony against Johnson. However, Johnson was acquitted at trial, with the jury foreman acknowledging that “We saw the possibility that he did it.”
Johnson has since claimed (via counsel), contrary to the grand jury’s finding, that he should never have been charged to begin with. This site exists to explore that claim, and to present evidence that hasn’t been emphasized in other media coverage.
- What is the purpose of this site?
The site exists to provide transparency and full context about all of the relevant evidence in the Andrea Cincotta homicide. It was specifically motivated by a 20/20 episode that gave an inappropriately limited view of the case.
- Why was Chris Johnson charged?
Johnson was indicted by a grand jury; grand juries don’t typically provide rationales for their charging decisions. However, it is likely because the grand jury found Bobby Leonard’s statements implicating Johnson credible. For example, Leonard knew highly specific information about Johnson and about Andrea’s schedule that day. In addition, Johnson made inconsistent statements about his knowledge of, and phone calls with Leonard in the days leading up to the murder. In addition, there is evidence that someone cleaned up the crime scene after Leonard; Johnson has changed his story on that topic. Finally, although Andrea Cincotta was under the impression that she owned half of the “beach house” the couple was building together, and was putting in half of the money toward it, Johnson made false statements to the victim’s son about the issue, claiming that she contributed “not a penny”.
- What about the Vision Statement? Isn’t it a false confession?
The Vision Statement is a potentially inculpatory statement that Johnson made on August 24, 1998. In it, he has a “vision” that he has an argument with Andrea, and then finds her dead. It is not a false confession, because it is not a confession at all—he never states that he killed her, nor even that he was present when she lost her life. Police later corroborated multiple aspects of the Vision Statement as true. Some have argued that the Vision Statement goes toward potential motive. Johnson was not charged based on the Vision Statement and it is not a false confession. In fact, Johnson began making statements similar to the Vision Statement the previous day (August 23rd). In addition, the victim’s son testified that Johnson made remarks to him suggesting he might be involved (“They keep saying I was there…and maybe I was there”) on August 22nd.
- Johnson was acquitted at trial. Does that mean he is actually innocent?
No. When someone is acquitted, it simply means that prosecutors failed to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. There is a distinction between being found legally “not guilty” and being actually innocent. A separate jury (the Grand Jury) found “probable cause” that Johnson was culpable, which is likely why they indicted him. It is possible that the evidence rises to a “probable cause,” but not a “reasonable doubt” threshold, so that both juries were correct. However, some key evidence, including the fact that Leonard had the exact same understanding of Andrea’s (unusual) schedule that day as Johnson, appears not to have been properly presented at trial.
- Can Johnson be sued for wrongful death in civil court, under the lower “preponderance of the evidence” standard?
No, because the two-year statute of limitations has passed.
- Didn’t Leonard benefit by testifying or by implicating Johnson? What about the prison call to his girlfriend?
No. The call that Leonard made to his girlfriend from prison was likely part of a general pattern, in which he was “stringing her along” to keep her hopes up that he’d be getting out soon. He references a grandiose pardon from the Governor of Virginia, who is not involved in this case. There is no evidence that the call was connected to the Andrea Cincotta homicide, or that he actually thought he was getting a benefit, and he received absolutely no benefit. In fact, he was made worse off, not better off, by confessing and cooperating.
7. Is there any hard physical evidence against Johnson, beyond Leonard’s word?
Yes. There’s the shoe impression evidence, for example.
8. Wait a minute. If Leonard didn’t benefit, and he knew all of this highly specific information, why would he make all of this up? And how could he know what he knows, unless Johnson told him?
That’s the question that’s central to this case, and to much of the content on the site. Explore more of the site to learn more..
Justice for Andrea Cincotta 