Judge finds former Tarpon Springs plastic surgeon guilty of killing Largo lawyer
Kosowski found guilty in murder trial
After seven days of testimony, the judge wasted no time reaching his verdict in the murder trial of former plastic surgeon Tomasz Kosowski. FOX 13's Kailey Tracy reports.
CLEARWATER, Fla. - After a little more than a week of testimony, Judge Joseph Bulone took about 15 minutes to deliberate Wednesday, and found Tomasz Kosowski guilty of first-degree murder in Largo attorney Steven Cozzi’s death in 2023.
Tomasz Kosowski murder trial
What we know:
Former plastic surgeon Tomasz Kosowski waived his right to a jury trial and represented himself against first-degree murder charges in the death of Largo attorney Steven Cozzi.
Cozzi disappeared from the Blanchard Law office on March 21, 2023, leaving his phone, keys and wallet at his desk during a civil lawsuit where he represented defendants sued by Kosowski over a bad online review and medical billing dispute.
Missing attorney search
What we don't know:
Investigators have not recovered the body of Steven Cozzi. Cell phone records showed Kosowski's phone pinged near a dumpster off the Tamiami Trail, which was hauled to a Collier County landfill on March 23, 2023, but a three-day search of the site yielded no results.
Civil case background
The backstory:
Tensions between Kosowski and Cozzi escalated months before the disappearance during a contentious civil lawsuit stemming from a medical billing dispute. During a January 2023 deposition at the law office, witnesses said Kosowski confronted Cozzi in the bathroom, called him a scumbag and said he would win in the end.
A week before Cozzi vanished, employees at a neighboring business found Kosowski hiding in an electrical closet at the complex. Officers responded after employees discovered a torch lighter and a box containing a wagon identical to the one seen on surveillance video the day Cozzi disappeared.
On March 21, 2023, the day Cozzi disappeared, cell data shows Kosowski’s phone pinged at the law office. Surveillance video that day also shows someone walking into the building carrying a large box just after 8:30 a.m., according to prosecutors. Around 10:22 a.m., surveillance video shows someone who appears to be Kosowski, prosecutors said, wheeling out a heavy wagon and struggling to pull it to a truck.
Flock cameras, businesses’ and neighbors’ surveillance cameras show the truck, a Toyota Tundra, return to Kosowski’s Tarpon Springs home.
Detectives found Cozzi's blood in the law firm's bathroom, inside the truck, on Kosowski's garage floor and inside the car Kosowski drove when officers arrested him with $280,000 in cash, brass knuckles, a paralyzing agent and a ballistic vest stained with Cozzi's blood.
Assistant State Attorney Nathan Vonderheide detailed all of this evidence as he chronologically laid out Kosowski’s days in the months leading up to March 21, 2023.
Cozzi’s father, George Cozzi, said after court they were very pleased with the verdict and that, "a very evil person was taken off the streets." He added they’re glad it’s over.
Cozzi’s family and friends wore bow ties Wednesday to honor him, and were understandably very emotional, consoling each other as the verdict was read. Afterward, they hugged and thanked the prosecutors and the investigators with tears in their eyes.
Kosowski appeared emotionless as the verdict was read, only glancing down slightly.
Courtroom grief
What they're saying:
"Steven Cozzi is dead, and this man did it," Vonderheide said, pointing at Kosowski. "This man murdered him, and he planned it out over the course of three and a half months at least. And he planned it out because of his obsession with Steven Cozzi. I don’t know why this obsession came out and why he was obsessed with Steven Cozzi. I certainly have my theories."
"The bottom line is the overwhelming totality of the evidence in this case demonstrates that he had the obsession, and he prepared, and he had a plan, and he effectuated that plan and murdered him on March 21, 2023," Vonderheide said.
Vonderheide said Kosowski researched Cozzi extensively, his home, a paralyzing medication, carts similar to the one prosecutors said he used to move Cozzi’s body, scoped out the law office’s layout and even visited Cozzi’s home in the months before March 21, 2023.
He said the end of the civil case was coming up in May 2023 with a summary for judgment hearing, and that for Kosowski, the "wheels were spinning, and he wasn’t going anywhere." Vonderheide added that Ivy-league educated Kosowski didn’t like that he was getting "an ego bruising from Mr. Cozzi."
"From 9:50 to 10:22 in the morning, I can’t stand here and tell you precisely what this man did in that bathroom," Vonderheide said pointing at Kosowski. "I can’t because of the absence of the body, but what I can tell you is there was a violent event that occurred in that bathroom," he said. "I think the forensic processing of the room speaks to that."
Vonderheide went on to say that in the days afterward, Kosowski looked up the Largo Police Department, warrants and local news outlets. He also went to work the next day and performed surgery in Miami, the prosecutor said.
During Kosowski’s closings, he argued there wasn’t enough evidence to prove Cozzi was dead and there was no cause of death.
"The State would have you believe that everything is very clear-cut, cut and dry in this case. That all aspects flow logically from one event to another. The problem is that if everything is truly so tidy, that if everything flows so logically, then the payoff is that you find Steven Cozzi’s body in that landfill. There is no other option," Kosowski said.
"While I’ve been defending myself, I’ve made mention of Steven Cozzi as a body several times. Steven Cozzi is fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of Jesus. I sincerely apologize to the Cozzi family for referring to Steven in this manner and for not giving all due dignity to him as a child of God," Kosowski said, wrapping up his closing argument.
"A bright light, a great cook who had quick wit."
Victim Impact Statements:
Wednesday afternoon, Cozzi’s parents, friend, boss and husband gave victim impact statements. They described Cozzi as a bright light, a great cook who had a quick wit, loved theater and made everyone feel at home.
"This crime has forever changed my wife and me," George Cozzi said. "In the first weeks after Steve was killed, we could only sit together in a dark room staring at each other in dark silence. We both began therapy and took prescribed antidepressants. These treatments helped us function day to day, but they could never restore what was taken from us. Steve was one of the warmest, kindest, friendliest, most genuine human beings you could ever hope to meet. He was vibrant and full of life. Every conversation with him left you smiling. His quick wit, his kind smile and heartfelt transparency made him a joy to be around."
"On March 21, 2023, my incredibly devoted, loving husband did the same thing he did every morning," Michael Montgomery, Cozzi’s husband, said. "He brought me a cup of coffee in bed, kissed me on the cheek and left. It was just like any other day. That morning became a dividing line of my life. The last words Steven ever said to me were, ‘I can’t believe how expensive Costco was,’ and not I love you. Shortly after, he would be dead. One of the most painful moments of all came immediately after, telling Steven’s mother and father their son had been murdered, and his body was still missing. Just moments after the police had delivered news that crushed my world, I watched their world collapse."
"I have also carried the persistent sense that I have failed Steven. On October 17, 2020, I stood in front of the people closest to us, and I promised that I would care for him and protect him and support him in sickness and in health and then something happened that I could not protect him from," Montgomery said. "I know logically Steven’s murder was the result of someone else’s actions. I know there was nothing I could’ve done, but grief doesn’t allow logic to prevail."
Cozzi’s mother told the judge their grief had been indescribable because his body was never found, calling it a void that can never be filled.
Kosowski read along on printed out copies of the victim impact statements. The judge then took a 10-minute break and came back to discuss his findings regarding the aggravating factors that will help him determine the sentence: death or life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Judge Bulone found the state proved two out of three aggravating factors beyond a reasonable doubt, but not that the murder was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel. The judge says while the state did prove Kosowski killed Cozzi, without his body ever being found, it’s hard to know exactly how it happened, so he can’t say without a doubt that it was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel.
"As far as exactly what happened, because of the lack of evidence, it really cannot be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, and it's not the fault of the state at all," Judge Bulone said. "And it is not a fault of law enforcement at all, it just is what it is. So, the court is going to find that it could have been a very heinous, atrocious and cruel death. That's obviously not good enough as far as proof. It has to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, and the evidence just wasn't there in order to do that."
Tomasz Kosowski verdict
What's next:
Kosowski faces sentencing by Judge Joseph Bulone. Kosowski declined to present witnesses or testify on his own behalf after the judge denied his motion for a judgment of acquittal. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
The Spencer hearing, where the judge will hear final arguments against the death penalty from the defense and for it from the State, is set for Oct. 8 at nine a.m.
Sentencing will most likely be at a later date after that.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from testimony presented during the bench trial before Judge Joseph Bulone, as well as evidence presented by prosecutors and law enforcement officers investigating the case.