State to seek death against Florida surgeon charged with disposing of attorney's body in Collier

Four months after authorities believe a plastic surgeon killed his Pinellas County attorney, they theorize the remains reached Collier County only to disappear into a landfill.

According to Pinellas County court documents, authorities believe the body of Steven Cozzi, 41, murdered by his client, Dr. Tomasz Kosowski, 44, rests at the Collier County Landfill, about two-and-a-half hours south of his law offices.

The investigation led authorities to Jones Loop Road and U.S. 41, in Ochopee, near the Big Cypress National Preserve.

Reports say Cozzi was last seen March 21 at his office in Largo. Kosowski and Cozzi were scheduled for a 10:30 a.m. court hearing via telephone. Cozzi specialized in bankruptcy, foreclosure defense, debt settlement and negotiation, and business and civil litigation, according to his LinkedIn page.

Around 9:50 a.m., court documents say Cozzi left his office to enter the hallway containing the shared bathrooms for the office complex. Shortly after, authorities said they saw Kosowski through surveillance footage carrying a backpack, exiting the building and pulling a "wagon."

Authorities said the wagon appeared to bear a heavy load, covered with a blanket.

Cameras captured Kosowski driving to his residence in the 500 block of Seaview Drive. Authorities said the attached license plate was expired, linked to a deceased owner.

Two days later, after a judge OK'd a search warrant, authorities began looking for clues at his home and in the pickup, found in the garage. Authorities never found the same New Jersey tag they saw on the cameras.

"The Toyota Tundra had a tag flipping device that could change tags with the press of a button," the report says.

As they searched his home, authorities reported finding mixed DNA samples, some of which belonged to Cozzi, whose blood they also found in the pickup. They then matched those samples with others found in his office building.

Authorities found Cozzi's keys, wallet and cellphone in his office. His computer remained on with an open file.

Kosowski’s cellphone records pointed investigators in the direction of his secondary home in Miami.

Cellphone records showed that Kosowski temporarily stopped for several minutes in the area of South Tamiami Trail before he resumed his commute to Miami.

Authorities said Kosowski's cellphone records reveal he drove back to the location on March 23, where he stayed for a short period before returning to Miami. The roundtrip takes about two hours.

Before he began driving back to his primary home in Tarpon Springs on March 25, authorities said cellphone records revealed he searched for variations of "Largo Police warrant," "Largo Police warrants" and "Largo Police Department."

Tarpon Springs Police arrested him later that day. Authorities said they found him with more than $280,000 in cash, ski masks, a black plastic face mask, a "Guy Fawkes" mask, duct tape, firearms, a ballistic vest with "EMS" written on it, and patches for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office and Clearwater Police.

They further found industrial trash bags and a vial of succinylcholine, a paralytic agent, as well as U.S. and Polish passports.

According to the report, authorities began investigating at the Big Cypress National Preserve. The search led to a trash receptacle after a cadaver dog alerted authorities.

The driver of the garbage truck who disposed of the trash receptacle's contents said it is usually filled with camping materials, but noted that on March 23, the day after Kosowski stopped in the area, the dumpster was "heavier than normal" and smelled "vile."

Footage of the contents emptied into the garbage truck showed a large garbage bag falling "consistent with being shaped and falling in a manner not inconsistent with a wrapped human body."

After watching the video, the driver "definitively" said Cozzi's body was emptied at the Collier County Landfill.

About a week later, authorities searched for Cozzi's body there, but weren't successful.

Law enforcement later learned from Waste Management employees that trash disposed in the Collier County Landfill is compacted to approximately one-third of its normal size, making recovery efforts nearly impossible.

A Pinellas County grand jury on April 27 charged Kosowski with first-degree murder.

Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Kosowski, who had approximately 200 firearms at his home.

Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@gannett.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Threads @tomasfrobeltran, Instagram @tomasfrobeltran, Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews and Twitter @TomasFRoBeltran.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Florida surgeon accused of killing lawyer faces death penalty