Live updates: Trial begins for Pinellas doctor charged with killing lawyer

On Monday morning, Tomasz Kosowski will enter a Pinellas courtroom and begin representing himself ina murder trial that has captured national attention.

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The Ivy League-educated plastic surgeon has been in jail since 2023, when investigators charged him with first-degree murder in the death of Largo attorney Steven Cozzi, 41. Cozzi had represented a defendant in a contentious medical billing lawsuit filed by Kosowski.

On March 21, 2023, Cozzi had a telephonic court hearing scheduled with a judge. Kosowski called in. Cozzi did not.

Minutes earlier, surveillance video showed a Toyota Tundra pulling into the parking lot outside Cozzi’s law office. Kosowski had bought the truck the previous December for $26,000 in cash.

A man was seen in the video dragging a cart into the building. The same man later exited, towing a large object draped in a blanket back to the truck. Investigators pieced together a digital evidence trailthat placed Kosowski’s phone at the law office at the time Cozzi disappeared. The lawyer’s DNA was found in the back of his truck.

Cozzi’s body was never found. Investigators suspect Kosowski discarded it in a remote dumpster in South Florida.

When Kosowski was arrested, police found a bloodied ballistic vest, duct tape, a paralyzing agent, syringes with sedatives, brass knuckles, a Taser and nearly $300,000 in cash in his car, court records state.

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It took more than two years for a trial date to be set because several private attorneys and assistant public defenders withdrew from his case, citing conflicts of interest that were not disclosed. Daniel Hernandez and Jane McNeill were appointed last July and represented Kosowski until he asked to dismiss them in August.

At his last hearing before trial, Kosowski, 47,asked to waive a jury. The case will be decided solely by Pinellas Judge Joseph Bulone. If Bulone finds Kosowski guilty as charged, he will also decide whether to impose the death penalty or a life sentence.

The trial is expected to last about three weeks. Follow live updates throughout the day.

9:21 a.m.: Courtroom readies for openings

Four rows of journalists and spectators filled the gallery of the Pinellas County Justice Center’s largest courtroom in preparation for the trial.

Judge Joseph Bulone took the bench promptly at 8:30 a.m. and handled unrelated matters on his morning calendar.

Assistant State Attorney Nathan Vonderheide, the lead prosecutor in Kosowski’s case, said Cozzi’s husband will be the first witness to testify this morning after opening statements.

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Court will resume at 9:30 a.m.

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This story was originally published September 14, 2026 at 9:35 AM.