CLEARWATER, Fla. (Court TV) — A plastic surgeon repeatedly described prosecutors’ theory of his case as “physically impossible” on Wednesday, urging a judge to acquit him of murder charges less than an hour before the judge came back with a conviction.
Tomasz Kosowski delivers his closing argument on Sept. 23, 2026. (Court TV)
Tomasz Kosowski, 47, acted as his own attorney as he stood trial on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of Steven Cozzi, 41. Cozzi, an attorney who disappeared in 2023, represented clients whom Kosowski was suing; Kosowski also acted pro se in the civil case.
Prosecutors presented surveillance video that they said showed Kosowski going into Cozzi’s law firm on the last day the victim was seen alive, then leaving, wheeling a cart — allegedly with the victim’s dead body inside. Witnesses inside the law office testified that when Cozzi disappeared, they found blood and a strong smell of cleaning products in the firm’s communal bathroom. Investigators tracked the defendant’s movements, first in a Toyota Tundra, then a Toyota Corolla, as he allegedly disposed of the victim’s body in a dumpster.
In his closing argument to Judge Joseph Bulone, Kosowski suggested that prosecutors failed to prove that Cozzi was dead. “It is entirely uncertain of what happened to Steven Cozzi in that bathroom,” he said. “The blood spatter analyst said she has no idea what happened to Steven Cozzi. Blood spatter was consistent with, she said, either him being shot or him being stabbed or him being assaulted or him sustaining an injury in a fall or him even having a nosebleed. She also concluded that it is impossible to determine how much blood volume Steven Cozzi lost in that bathroom. If you don’t have a mechanism of death, you cannot demonstrate exsanguination inconsistent with life; you do not have the basic elements of a murder.”
While cross-examining a detective on Tuesday, Kosowski asked whether a single person could have moved Cozzi’s 195-pound body. The defendant pressed his theory again during his closing argument. “It is physically impossible to transfer a body in the manner the state suggests. The wheelbase of that Gorilla Cart is much, much shorter than the height of the tailgate of that truck,” Kosowski said. “Mind you, take into account what they’re proposing. You take that full weight, that 200 pounds in a big and bulky cart. You take that, you lift it up straight in front of you and you get it onto that truck. That’s physically impossible. I mean, maybe not for, like, an Olympic-caliber deadlifter.”
Kosowski even questioned the prosecution’s theory of the killing itself, telling the judge:
No one heard a thing. No one saw anything. Despite there being people literally 10 to 20 ft within that bathroom. I proceed to clean that bathroom. I load Steven Cozzi’s body onto a cart. I roll it out. And I load the cart with Steven Cozzi’s body in it with superhuman strength onto that truck. And then I drive off. Oh, and by the way, I not only do this all in 5 or 13 minutes; I also do not leave a speck of DNA in that bathroom.
Kosowski also suggested that evidence had been planted in the case, pointing out that some photos of the bathroom at the law firm showed paper debris outside the door, and others did not.
“The only conspiracy in this case is this man’s sloppiness against himself,” prosecutor Nathan Vonderheide said in his rebuttal argument. “His own sloppiness against himself because he didn’t get done in time….his sloppiness is one of the main reasons that he got evidence against him.” Among the pieces of evidence, Vonderheide said, was blood found in Kosowski’s truck that matched Cozzi’s DNA.
Kosowski had previously waived his right to a jury; Bulone recessed court for only 15 minutes to make his decision. “I don’t anticipate me disagreeing with myself that much,” he quipped.
When he returned, Bulone declared Kosowski guilty as charged. Prosecutors are pursuing the death penalty for Kosowski, who said he wanted to continue serving as his own attorney in the penalty phase. Because the defendant said he would not present any mitigation or closing arguments, Bulone appointed special counsel as a precaution despite Kosowski’s insistence that he did not want any assistance. That counsel will investigate mitigation on Kosowski’s behalf.
