A Deadly Obsession: The Murder Trial of Dr. Kosowski

Tomasz Kosowski (0:04)

I would say that the criminal act that the state accuses me of perpetuating is physically impossible. It is physically impossible to transfer a body in the manner the state suggests. 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 on to that truck.

That's physically impossible. I mean, maybe not for like an Olympic caliber deadlifter.

And Mr. Bonderheide knows this very, very well. And that is why he refused to lift up that cart yesterday.

Erin Moriarty (0:49)

That was former Florida plastic surgeon, Dr. Tomasz Kosowski, representing himself in court after being charged with the murder of 41-year-old attorney, Steven Cozzi.

Despite his arguments, and he made some good ones during his six-day trial, Dr. Kosowski, age 47, was found guilty of first-degree murder on September 23rd. The doctor, who now faces the possibility of the death sentence, not only represented himself in court, but he waived his right to a jury. So instead, asking for a bench trial. So he's leaving it up to a single judge alone to decide his fate, whether he'll live or whether he'll die.

To understand how this case came about, you do need some history. The two men met because of a legal conflict. Dr. Kosowski had sued his former employer, the Law for Institute of Plastic Surgery, and some of the people associated with the institute, over a negative online review and a medical billing dispute. Steven Cozzi just happened to be the lawyer for the defendants, for the other side. But things apparently got so heated between the two men, that in January of 2023, during a deposition, Kosowski confronted Cozzi in his law office's bathroom, calling him a scumbag. And that matters, because it was in that same bathroom three months later, that authorities believe that Dr. Kosowski came back in and killed Steven Cozzi. He was then arrested a few days later in a traffic stop with $280,000 in cash, brass knuckles, a paralyzing agent, a medication and a ballistic vest that was stained with Cozzi's blood. Here's the important part for this case. Cozzi's body has never been found.

I'm 48 Hours correspondent Erin Moriarty, and this is Case by Case. Returning to the show today is 48 Hours consultant Herman Weisberg. Herman is a private investigator, former NYPD detective, and he's also the managing director of Sage Intelligence Group where he oversees investigations. Thank you, Herman, for being back with Case by Case today.

Herman Weisberg (3:20)

Thanks for having me, Erin. I'm really honored to be working with you. I'm a big fan. Yes, this is a heck of a case.

Erin Moriarty (3:28)

Herman, I first have to ask you your impressions of Dr. Kosowski in court.

You have seen individuals represent themselves. I think he's a little different. He's incredibly educated. He seems sometimes even smug. I mean, do you think he was really prepared for what he did defending himself in a death penalty case?

Herman Weisberg (3:55)

Not at all. He was, to me, I was transfixed watching this. He looked like a deer in the headlights half the time. I don't know what he was thinking representing himself. The old expression comes to mind full for a client.

But I would seriously rather see a lawyer perform surgery on himself than to watch this surgeon practice law, or what he thought was practicing law. He didn't do himself any justice, literally.

Erin Moriarty (4:23)

Well, what troubled me, why I keep calling this a troubling case, is that there are a lot of people in this country who dislike lawyers, but this seemed to go beyond that.

This was an obsession for this plastic surgeon, but there did seem to be some warning signs. As you know, Koszi's husband, Michael Montgomery, had actually feared for Koszi's safety. He bought Koszi pepper spray, and he testified that he fixed their home security system. And I think it was a smart move, because a week before Koszi disappeared, Kosowski was found at a business near his law office, and he was hiding in an electrical closet with a torch lighter and a wagon, what's called a guerrilla wagon, identical to the one that investigators believe he later used to transport Koszi's body. So it seems like everyone should have known that Kosowski was a threat. Was it, you think it's just that people didn't realize how far he would go?

Herman Weisberg (5:30)

For the husband to react by improving their security system and getting the mace and taking those steps, I really do think that Cozzi was concerned about it, but not to this extent.