The Florida plastic surgeon accused of killing a lawyer from a firm that represented his former employer in a business dispute may have murdered the lawyer in an office bathroom after using a paralyzing agent to subdue him, according to a police report obtained by Fox News Digital.
Dr. Tomasz Roman Kosowski, 44, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder Sunday in the killing of Steven Cozzi, who disappeared from his Largo law office March 21 near Tampa.
Surveillance footage shows a man police believe to be Kosowski pull up in a gray Toyota Tundra at about 8:32 a.m. and enter the building “wearing gloves, carrying a large box and wearing a large backpack,” according to a probable cause affidavit.
Cozzi strolled into his office minutes later, while Kosowski was allegedly lying in wait. At 10:22 a.m., the man believed to be Kosowski exited the building wearing a new outfit and “pulling behind him a large cart that appears to be heavy and have a red bag or blanket,” the document alleges.
FLORIDA PLASTIC SURGEON ARRESTED FOR MURDER OF MISSING ATTORNEY: POLICE
Plastic surgeon Tomasz Kosowski, left, is accused of murdering attorney Steven Cozzi, right, who was representing Kosowski’s former practice in a lawsuit over billing practices. (Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office/Largos Police Department)
The victim missed a 10:30 a.m. telephone hearing scheduled with the defendant, who managed to call in for six minutes. After the call disconnected, the man believed to be Kosowski continued struggling to hoist the cart into his truck.
Cozzi was never seen leaving the building, and his wallet, keys and cellphone remained on his desk. A co-worker, who went to look for Cozzi, “noted blood smeared on the bathroom door as well as blood on the stall wall and the bottom of the toilet,” the affidavit says.
The Toyota Tundra allegedly traveled to Kosowski’s home in Tarpon Springs, passing a traffic camera that captured an image of “a red bag or blanket in a car that appeared to contain what resembles a human body located in the bed of the truck,” according to the police document.
READ THE AFFIDAVIT AGAINST PLASTIC SURGEON TOMASZ KOSOWSKI FOR THE MURDER OF STEVEN COZZI
That evening, Kosowski’s red Toyota Corolla was seen leaving his home and captured on tag readers in Miami. He returned to Pinellas County March 25.
The investigation revealed that Kosowski had left behind a fingerprint inside the law office, and blood was found on the truck bed and inside the vehicle.
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During a search of the Toyota Corolla, police found a ballistic vest covered in blood and a bag containing “masks, a taser, brass knuckles, duct tape and intravenous sedatives.” Among the drugs was succinylcholine, a paralyzing agent. There were also syringes found on the passenger floor board, police said.
Blanchard Law, P.A., where attorney Steven Cozzi worked in Largo, Fla. Police found blood in the bathroom, and a man believed to be plastic surgeon Tomasz Kosowski allegedly dragged Cozzi’s body from the building in a cart. (Google Maps)
Kosowski entered a plea of not guilty through his attorney at his initial appearance Monday in the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court. His lawyer didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
Cozzi represented Kosowski’s former employer and some of Kosowski’s co-workers at the Laufer Institute of Plastic Surgery, where he worked from 2016 to 2018 as a surgeon doing breast reconstruction surgery.
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Kosowski sued the practice in 2019, accusing another employee of failing to file insurance claims for his patients, which he said led to bad online reviews and damaged his reputation.
A hearing was scheduled in the lawsuit for March 28.
