A Florida judge has convicted a plastic surgeon of killing an attorney involved in a long-running dispute over payment for medical procedures.
Steven Cozzi’s body has never been recovered. During six days of testimony, however, prosecutors called dozens of witnesses and presented a disturbing account of a killing they described as a violent act of revenge.
Dr. Tomasz Kosowski, 47, acted as his own attorney throughout the trial. He waived his right to have a jury decide the case, leaving his fate to Judge Joseph Bulone.
Tomasz Kosowski represents himself during his murder trial. (FOX 13 Tampa)
The trial opened Sept. 14, more than three years after Cozzi disappeared. On Wednesday, Judge Bulone found Kosowski guilty of murdering him.
Wearing an orange jail uniform, Kosowski displayed little visible emotion as the verdict was read.
He could be sentenced to life in prison without parole or face the death penalty.
Before moving to the penalty phase, Bulone reminded Kosowski that representing himself came with “disadvantages.” The judge then asked whether he wanted a lawyer for the sentencing proceedings.
“Question No. 1: You still want to represent yourself?” Bulone asked.
“Yes, your honor,” Kosowski replied immediately.
“Question No. 2: Do you still want to go non-jury?” Bulone asked.
Kosowski again answered, “Yes, your honor.”
A date for Kosowski’s sentencing had not been announced.
The evidence
Before prosecutors rested, they argued that Kosowski had developed an obsession with Cozzi. They said the doctor’s anger over the yearslong legal dispute escalated into threats in a restroom and surveillance outside Cozzi’s home.
Steven Cozzi vanished in Florida. Tomasz Kosowski was charged with his murder. (Largos Police Department)
Cozzi’s husband testified that the encounters had left him deeply concerned. He even suggested arranging security whenever the two men needed to meet face to face.
Prosecutors said Cozzi and Kosowski scheduled a teleconference in March 2023. Shortly before it was to begin, Kosowski allegedly entered the law firm without being noticed, attacked Cozzi in a restroom and carried him out in a blanket-covered wagon.
Kosowski arrived late for the meeting. Cozzi never appeared.
His co-workers were initially unable to explain his absence.
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Their questions intensified when they discovered blood throughout a bathroom in the building. Investigators later determined that the blood belonged to Cozzi.
But Cozzi had vanished.
Attorney Steven Cozzi was killed in his Florida law office, authorities say. (St. Petersburg Bar Association)
Surveillance video, pieced together later using Flock cameras, showed a man pulling a wagon from the law firm, struggling to load its contents into the bed, and traveling to Kosowski’s multimillion-dollar, Tarpon Springs home.
There, prosecutors said, Kosowski transferred Cozzi to another vehicle and headed south toward the Everglades. DNA evidence found later in the garage was a match for Cozzi.
Kosowski eventually made a stop in a remote area of Florida at a dumpster, pings from his cellphone showed. There, he hoisted Cozzi into the trash container and left, prosecutors and witnesses said.
The contents were hauled to a local landfill and soon were buried under thousands of tons of garbage. Though they felt certain of Cozzi’s location and combed through trash for days, searchers couldn’t recover a body.
Police arrested Kosowski in March 2023, and he’s been held in jail ever since.
Tomasz Kosowski was accused of killing Steven Cozzi. (Pinellas County Sheriffs Office)
The doctor’s defense
Throughout the trial, Kosowski sat quietly, watching witnesses and prosecutors with a bland expression. Rarely, he cross-examined witnesses.
He called into question evidence related to DNA evidence, cellphone pings and whether he’d really had the time and physical strength to complete the crime in the way prosecutors had testified.
The trial wrapped up for the week on Friday and resumed Tuesday.
In his closing arguments Wednesday, Kosowski spoke calmly and confidently.
“Not only is it impossible, physically, to do what the state asserts is required of anybody— let alone me — it makes no sense in time,” Kosowski told the judge.
He gave reasons why he said he was innocent. Then, the judge paused the proceedings.
When the trial reconvened less than 30 minutes later, a statement was read aloud declaring that Bulone had found Kosowski guilty of first-degree murder.
News Media was not able to reach Kosowski for comment.
The trial will now move to the penalty phase, where the only two options are life without the possibility of parole or the death penalty. A Spencer hearing has been scheduled for Oct. 8, which allows a defendant to present more evidence or mitigating factors to consider before sentencing.