Steven Cozzi and the man who joined the hearing
Steven missed a 10:30 court call. The man suing his clients joined it, with his phone near Steven's office. In 2026 a judge found that man guilty of murder.
- When
- March 21, 2023
- Where
- Largo, Pinellas County, Florida
- Status
- Convicted
Content note murder, blood. No graphic images.
In brief
On the morning of March 21, 2023, Steven Cozzi, a 41-year-old lawyer, stepped away from his desk in an office building in Largo, Florida, toward a shared restroom. He never came back. His wallet and keys were on his desk, an email half-answered on his screen, and his car outside. There was blood in the restroom, later confirmed as his. The building's camera never showed him leaving, but it did show a man in gloves carrying in a large box and, later, a man with the same backpack pulling out a wagon with a heavy, covered load. At 10:30 Steven missed a court call in a civil case. The plastic surgeon who had brought that case against Steven's clients, Tomasz Kosowski, joined the call, with his phone near Steven's office. Kosowski was arrested days later. Steven's blood was found in his pickup and garage and Steven's DNA in another of his cars. On September 23, 2026, Judge Joseph Bulone found Kosowski guilty of first-degree murder in a trial without a jury. Steven's remains have never been found.
Turning pointWhen Steven failed to join the 10:30 court call, the opposing party did. Cell records later put Tomasz Kosowski's phone near Steven's office for the whole hearing.
- Victim
- Steven Cozzi, 41, attorney, married to Michael Montgomery
- Last seen
- Morning of March 21, 2023, stepping away from his desk toward the shared restroom
- Convicted
- Tomasz Kosowski, plastic surgeon, first-degree murder, September 23, 2026
- Trial
- Non-jury trial before Judge Joseph Bulone; Kosowski represented himself
- Sentence
- Pending; prosecutors are seeking death. Hearing set for October 8, 2026.
- Remains
- Never recovered
Watch the episode
Steven Cozzi: He Joined the Hearing | Largo, Florida
Watch on YouTubeTimeline
Months before
Witnesses later say Kosowski confronted Steven in the same building restroom, called him a scumbag and said he would win in the end. Kosowski had also photographed a vehicle outside Steven's home.
March 2023
About a week before Steven disappears, a maintenance worker finds Kosowski hiding in a utility closet in the building. After he leaves, staff find a boxed collapsible wagon inside. Investigators later find his fingerprint there.
March 20, 2023
According to prosecutors, Kosowski searches the effects and dosage of succinylcholine, a paralytic drug.
March 21, 2023Morning
A man in gloves carries a large box into the building, past the only unsecured exit's camera. Steven, at his desk with music playing and an email open, steps away toward the shared restroom.
March 21, 202310:22 a.m.
A man with the same backpack leaves pulling a wagon, its heavy load covered with a reddish cloth. The camera never shows Steven leaving.
March 21, 202310:30 a.m.
Steven misses a court call in the civil case Kosowski brought against Steven's clients. Kosowski joins it. Cell records place his phone near Steven's office throughout. Afterward, the man with the wagon struggles to lift it into a pickup truck.
March 21, 2023
A coworker goes looking for Steven and finds his wallet, keys and phone at his desk. There is blood on the restroom door, a stall wall and the floor. That evening, Kosowski's red car travels south toward the Tamiami Trail.
March 25, 2023
Police stop Kosowski. In one of his cars they find a vial of succinylcholine, syringes, masks, a stun device and brass knuckles. He is arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
September 23, 2026
After waiving a jury and representing himself, Kosowski is found guilty of first-degree murder by Judge Joseph Bulone. Steven's husband, Michael Montgomery, is in the courtroom.
The full story
A desk left mid-sentence
On the morning of March 21, 2023, Steven Cozzi was at work in an office building in Largo, Florida. He was 41, a lawyer, and he had a court call at 10:30 in a civil lawsuit. Sometime that morning he got up from his desk and headed toward the shared restroom down the hall.
When a coworker went looking for him, music was still playing on his phone. His wallet and keys were on the desk and an unfinished email was open on his computer. His car was in the lot. In the restroom there was blood on the door, on a stall wall and on the floor. Testing later confirmed it was Steven’s.
The camera at the door
A camera watched the building’s only unsecured exit. It never showed Steven leaving. It did show a man in gloves carrying a large box inside that morning, and at 10:22, a man wearing the same backpack coming out with a wagon, its heavy load hidden under a reddish cover.
At 10:30, Steven missed his court call. The plastic surgeon who had sued Steven’s clients, Tomasz Kosowski, joined it. Cell records put Kosowski’s phone near Steven’s office for the whole hearing. When it ended, the man with the wagon was seen struggling to lift it into a pickup truck.
What came before
Prosecutors laid out a history. Months earlier, witnesses said, Kosowski had confronted Steven in that same restroom. He had photographed a vehicle outside Steven’s home. About a week before Steven disappeared, a maintenance worker found Kosowski hiding in a utility closet in the building, and staff later found a boxed collapsible wagon in there with his fingerprint nearby. The day before, he searched for information on succinylcholine, a paralytic drug. When police stopped him four days later, a vial of it was in his car, with syringes, masks, a stun device and brass knuckles.
Steven’s blood turned up in Kosowski’s pickup and on his garage floor, and Steven’s DNA in the trunk of his other car, which had driven south that evening toward a remote dumpster off the Tamiami Trail. A cadaver dog alerted there. A landfill search found nothing.
A verdict, and no body
Kosowski fired his lawyers, waived a jury and argued that the state’s account was physically impossible. On September 23, 2026, Judge Joseph Bulone found him guilty of first-degree murder. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Steven’s husband, Michael Montgomery, heard the verdict. He still has no remains to bury.
What the video couldn't include
The evidence in the vehicles
Steven's blood was found in Kosowski's pickup truck and on his garage floor, and Steven's DNA in the trunk of his red car. The truck was the one seen at the office; the red car made the trip south that evening.
The dumpster and the landfill
Phone records placed Kosowski near a remote dumpster off the Tamiami Trail, and he returned to the area two days later. A cadaver dog alerted at the dumpster. Garbage-truck video showed a large bag falling into the truck, but no one could identify what was in it. A landfill search found no remains.
What the drug does and doesn't prove
The search history and the vial show Kosowski had the paralytic. Investigators could not establish whether he used it on Steven, and exactly how Steven was killed remains unknown.
His defense
Representing himself, Kosowski argued the state's account was physically impossible. He called no witnesses and did not testify after the judge denied his motion for acquittal.
A death penalty decision by a judge
Because Kosowski waived a jury, Judge Bulone alone will weigh aggravating and mitigating factors at a Spencer hearing, the Florida proceeding where a judge hears final arguments in a capital case.
Who Steven was
Steven and Michael Montgomery had been married since 2021. Michael has spoken about the books Steven read, the meals he cooked, the miles he ran, and their dogs, Casey Jones and Sprout.
The video and the record
The episode tells this case in about 3 minutes with illustrated recreations. Here is how its key moments line up with what is documented.
The music on Steven Cozzi's phone was still playing when his coworker went looking for him
Documented
From the coworker's account in the arrest affidavit.
It did show someone else
Documented
The camera shows a man carrying a box in and a man with the same backpack pulling a covered wagon out. It does not show what was in the wagon.
The opposing party joined it: Tomasz Kosowski
Documented
Arrest affidavit and the state's pretrial filing.
Investigators could not establish whether he used the drug on Steven
Documented
The cause of death has not been established.
Judge Joseph Bulone found him guilty of first-degree murder
Documented
A verdict by the judge, not a jury. Sentencing was still pending when this page was reviewed.
The office desk, the restroom, the wagon, the courtroom
Reconstruction
AI-generated illustrations. No surveillance stills or evidence photographs are reproduced.
What the four marks mean
- Documented
- Shown as it is recorded in court filings, police statements, or consistent reporting.
- Reconstruction
- A reasonable visual recreation of a documented event. The event happened; the image is illustrative.
- Compressed
- Real events shortened, merged, or reordered to fit the runtime.
- Dramatized
- A storytelling choice (framing, wording, emphasis) that the record does not establish.
Sources
- [1]Pinellas County Clerk of the Circuit CourtState of Florida v. Tomasz Kosowski, case 23-02935-CFDocket recording the September 23, 2026 non-jury guilty verdict and penalty-phase proceedings.
- [2]Office of the State Attorney, Sixth Judicial Circuit, filed in Pinellas County Circuit CourtState's motion for pretrial detentionThe prosecution's filing; its account was later tested at trial.
- [3]Largo Police DepartmentArrest affidavit
- [4]ABC NewsFlorida plastic surgeon found guilty of murdering missing lawyer
- [5]FOX 13 Tampa Bay“Judge finds former Tarpon Springs plastic surgeon guilty of killing Largo lawyer”
- [6]FOX 13 Tampa BayLargo lawyer disappearance and alleged murder: Timeline of events
- [7]WFLA News Channel 8“Kosowski trial: What is a Spencer hearing?”
VerifiedKey facts in this file were checked against multiple consistent reports and first-person or official accounts. Last reviewed October 6, 2026. How we check cases
