Florida plastic surgeon found guilty of murdering missing lawyer

A Florida plastic surgeon was found guilty of murdering a lawyer whose body was never found.

Tomasz Kosowski was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Steven Cozzi, who disappeared in March 2023.

Prosecutors said Kosowski had a "malicious and personal obsession" with Cozzi, who was representing defendants sued by Kosowski when he went missing from his law firm, and "methodically and systematically" planned the murder.

Judge Joseph Bulone found Kosowski guilty following closing arguments Wednesday. Kosowski, who represented himself in the case, had waived his right to a jury trial.

The penalty phase of the trial will begin Wednesday afternoon, during which the judge is set to hear arguments on aggravating factors.

Kosowski also waived his right to counsel and a jury for the penalty phase. He faces a sentence of life without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.

The state is seeking the death penalty.

Kosowski did not call any witnesses or testify in his own defense during the seven-day trial.

Prosecutors argued that even though Cozzi's body was never found, the evidence showed that he is dead, and that Kosowski murdered him.

"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," Assistant State Attorney Nathan Vonderheide said during his closing argument on Wednesday.

That evidence, Vonderheide said, included Cozzi's blood found in his law office's bathroom, where he said a "violent event" occurred, and in Kosowski's truck. He said Kosowski was seen on surveillance video entering the office with a Gorilla cart box on the day Cozzi went missing, and then leaving hours later with a "very heavy" wagon.

Prosecutors alleged that Kosowski then dumped Cozzi's body in a landfill.

"This man murdered Steven Cozzi, and he murdered him in a violent way, leaving his blood in a multitude of locations," Vonderheide said.

During his closing, Kosowski argued that it was "impossible" for him to have committed the crime as alleged by the state and questioned whether Cozzi died on March 21, 2023, saying there were several transactions on his credit card in the weeks following that date.

"Reasonable doubt exists in droves in this case," he said.

Kosowski said that it was "physically impossible" for him to have lifted the cart containing Cozzi's approximately 190-pound body to the bed of his truck, as suggested by the state. During cross-examination on Tuesday, Kosowski asked a detective to lift a cart with a person onto a desk in an attempt to disprove the state's theory, which the judge did not allow.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.