Philip Becnel, our managing partner, was interviewed for an episode of ABC 20/20 titled, “The Confession?” The story documented the case of Christopher “Chris” Johnson, who in 1998 found his fiancée, Andrea “Andi” Cincotta, dead in their closet and decades later was charged with her murder.
Dinolt Becnel & Wells Investigative Group LLC was hired by Chris’s defense team, which included attorney Libbey Van Pelt. The government’s case rested largely on the testimony of Bobby Joe Leonard, a man serving life in prison for raping and strangling a 13-year-old girl, who he left her for dead in a closet (this girl survived). Bobby Joe admitted to murdering Andi, but claimed Chris hired him to do so by promising to leave cash in a shoe box.
Thanks in part to our investigation, and due to outstanding lawyering by Libbey, Frank Salvato and Manuel Leiva, the jury heard evidence during a three-week trial and acquitted Chris of all charges in one hour.