Florida Judge Convicts 47-Year-Old Surgeon Tomasz Kosowski of Attorney's Murder, Sending Case to Oct. 8 Penalty Phase
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Sep 23
Florida Judge Convicts 47-Year-Old Surgeon Tomasz Kosowski of Attorney's Murder, Sending Case to Oct. 8 Penalty Phase
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 23
Summary
Judge Joseph Bulone found Tomasz Kosowski guilty of first-degree murder in the 2023 killing of Pinellas County attorney Steven Cozzi, ending a bench trial in which the 47-year-old surgeon represented himself.
Prosecutors said a payment dispute and yearslong lawsuit drove Kosowski to stalk Cozzi, slip into his law office before a March 2023 teleconference, attack him in a restroom and remove him in a wagon.
Blood in the bathroom was identified as Cozzi's, and surveillance, cellphone pings and DNA from Kosowski's garage were used to trace a route from the law firm to his Tarpon Springs home and then south toward a remote dumpster.
Cozzi's body was never recovered after trash from the dumpster was taken to a landfill and buried under thousands of tons of garbage, but the judge rejected Kosowski's challenges to the timeline, DNA and cellphone evidence.
The case now moves to a penalty phase with only two sentencing options—life without parole or death—and a Spencer hearing is scheduled for Oct. 8.