Still Missing FL - Steven Cozzi, lawyer, Largo, 21 March 2023 *plastic surgeon arrested*

[Nila Aella]

I've been wondering that as well. He would need to have a way to monitor the washroom. Did he drill a hole in the wall between the utility room and the bathroom? Or was there a vent cover that he removed? Did he plant a micro-camera?

And where did the cart come from? He wasn't seen entering the building with it on the morning of the murder. Did it belong to the building and was it kept in the utility room?

I'm going to have trouble sleeping tonight. I've just read through the entire thread and it's such a disturbing case!
My thoughts are with the people that cared so much about Steve.

I've had all the same thoughts.
The news reports and probable cause narrative just say he entered with a large box. It does not mention a cart. I wondered if the cart was in that utility room?

News article:
Two minutes later, an unidentified man entered the building wearing a backpack and gloves and carrying a large box.

Video shows man exiting law office with ‘large cart’ where Pinellas attorney went missing

Tomasz Roman Kosowski, 44, was arrested early Sunday morning on a first-degree murder charge in the death of missing attorney Steven Cozzi.

www.tampabay.com

Probable cause narrative:
male is seen entering the building wearing gloves, carrying a large box and wearing a large backpack

Largo attorney murder: Surveillance captures man exiting law firm pulling large cart; surgeon arrested

On the day a Largo attorney disappeared, a man was seen entering the main lobby of a law firm and walking out about two hours later, pulling a large cart, according to an arrest affidavit. Later, forensics showed a "large quantity of blood" was cleaned up in the building's bathroom.

www.fox13news.com

MOO

 

[KooshBall]

If only the woman had reported seeing the man in the utility room, maybe security would have been stepped up. I just can't imagine how unhinged this doctor must be to plan and commit this murder the way he did. Senseless.

 

[Auntie Cipation]

He thought he was so smart and had come up with the perfect alibi.

“Detective, how could I have abducted Mr. Cozzi? Ask the judge, I was clearly at home on a zoom call with him when Mr. Cozzi went missing.”

Not only was he on the zoom call, but Cozzi was also supposed to be on that same call, but "missed it" -- because he was in the cart next to the truck, sedated or dead, while TK casually participated in the call, which probably consisted of everyone else besides TK wondering why Cozzi wasn't on the phone. Holy Zow!

 

[megs1477]

I was initially thinking money was part of the motive. The more I hear, the more I am starting to believe this man was just unhinged and the lawsuit was about winning, not the money. He obviously could have paid his attorney's and chose not to. He could have hired another one, but wanted to control the situation himself. He blamed one person for standing in his way of winning...which meant clearing his name, restoring his pride. So he made a plan to remove the obstacle. JMO

 

[Nikynoo]

I was initially thinking money was part of the motive. The more I hear, the more I am starting to believe this man was just unhinged and the lawsuit was about winning, not the money. He obviously could have paid his attorney's and chose not to. He could have hired another one, but wanted to control the situation himself. He blamed one person for standing in his way of winning...which meant clearing his name, restoring his pride. So he made a plan to remove the obstacle. JMO

100%!

 

[Nikynoo]

Charges: KOSOWSKI, TOMASZ ROMAN		Statute	Level	Date
1.	MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE		782.04(1)(A)	FELONY - CAPITAL	03/21/2023

Events & Orders of the Court

			OTHER EVENTS AND HEARINGS
03/28/2023			REQUEST FOR COPIES Doc # 19 GOVQA I077713-032823
03/27/2023			ADVISORY - MALE, FELONY (1:30 PM) (Judicial Officer ZUROWESTE, ELIZABETH) SPN/PersonID: 312109281 Case Number: 23-02935-CF Name: KOSOWSKI, TOMASZ Booking Number: SO1925237 Result: HEARING HELD
03/27/2023			DEMAND AND REQUEST FOR COPY OF INFORMATION Doc # 1
03/27/2023			DEFENDANT'S INVOCATION OF CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS Doc # 3
03/27/2023			DEFENDANT'S INVOCATION OF CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS Doc # 4
03/27/2023			REQUEST FOR JURY TRIAL Doc # 5
03/27/2023			DEMAND FOR DISCOVERY Doc # 6
03/27/2023			DEMAND AND REQUEST FOR COPY OF INFORMATION Doc # 7
03/27/2023			WAIVER OF APPEARANCE Doc # 8 AT ANY PRETRIAL CONFERENCE OR STATUS CHECK
03/27/2023			COMPLAINT & ADVISORY Doc # 9
03/27/2023			ORDER OF PROBABLE CAUSE FOUND Doc # 10
03/27/2023			ADV HRG - NO CHANGE IN BOND Doc # 11
03/27/2023			WRITTEN PLEA NOT GUILTY BY ATTORNEY Doc # 12
03/27/2023			REQUEST FOR COPIES Doc # 13 GOVQA I077582-032723
03/27/2023			REQUEST FOR COPIES Doc # 15 T077625-032723
03/27/2023			REQUEST FOR COPIES Doc # 17 GOVQA I077541-032723
03/27/2023			TRANSFER TO OR RE-ASSIGN TO DIVISION Doc # 21 D
03/26/2023			NOTICE OF APPEARANCE Doc # 2 BJORN E. BRUNVAND

https://ccmspa.pinellascounty.org/PublicAccess/CaseDetail.aspx?CaseID=19308878

edit: Not sure why the links are not working from here. If you go to Pinellas County Court Records/public view/criminal and type his last name in, you can view some of the actual records. MOO

I cannot get into the records but think its because I am outside the US. Is there anyway of downloading them and adding them to this thread? Thank you!

 

[Nila Aella]

I cannot get into the records but think its because I am outside the US. Is there anyway of downloading them and adding them to this thread? Thank you!

It is not you. For some reason the links don't go through, I think it is the records website.
Try this:

View Records

View Public Records, Court Records, Search Records

www.mypinellasclerk.org

Hit court records public view
Criminal Cases
Type his last name in Kosowski
First one on the list, hit left number
The available records have links here that should work.


MOO
ETA: records website

 

[Flbeginnersleuth]

Kosowski, 44, was arrested Sunday and faces a first-degree murder charge in connection to Cozzi’s disappearance,

Missing Largo lawyer case records show $300K cash found in doc’s car

Investigators obtained a search warrant in the disappearance of Steven Cozzi, a Largo lawyer who went missing March 21.

www.tampabay.com

 

[Nila Aella]

Missing Largo lawyer's family, friends gather in St. Petersburg for vigil

The president of the St. Petersburg Bar Association said the Pinellas attorney appears to have been killed for doing his job.

www.tampabay.com

 

[Flbeginnersleuth]

Here is the offficial complaint

 

[SeesSeas]

If only the woman had reported seeing the man in the utility room, maybe security would have been stepped up. I just can't imagine how unhinged this doctor must be to plan and commit this murder the way he did. Senseless.

Apparently, the woman did report the incident and the police responded "earlier in March":

Vigil planned for missing Largo attorney Steven Cozzi

A vigil and moment of silence is planned in memory of Steven Cozzi. Police say the Pinellas County attorney disappeared from his workplace, Blanchard Law, on Tuesday, March 21.

www.wfla.com

According to the warrant, police responded to the firm earlier in March when an employee from another office saw a man hiding in a utility closet. Officers later found Kosowski’s fingerprint on the door.

 

[Nila Aella]

Just thinking this morning that with all the information available so far, it looks like he planned so many aspects of this and so might also have planned a place to take Mr. Cozzi. Storage unit? Another owned property somewhere?

And since he was using his phone at the scene and his car afterwards, hopefully they can track his movements with car/phone gps data location.

MOO

 

[SeesSeas]

Brief video included in below link, news reporter states "new documents reveal a judge ordered the suspect to hand over more than 200 firearms."

Fellow lawyers remember Largo attorney Steven Cozzi as 'kind, genuine, a kind soul with a brilliant mind'

Fellow attorneys with the St. Petersburg Bar Association gathered on Wednesday night to remember the colleague. Steven Cozzi was reported missing more than a week ago under suspicious circumstances.

www.abcactionnews.com

Posted at 9:21 PM, Mar 29, 2023
PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — The legal community gathered on Wednesday night to remember their colleague, Steven Cozzi.

 

[SeesSeas]

Lots of details in this news article. . .
. . . guns, ammunition, mentally ill, violence, etc:

Largo lawyer murder: Blood, firearms, $280,000 cash found in search of surgeon's vehicles, home, police say

A Pinellas County plastic surgeon may have been planning to harm or kill a lawyer for days before he showed up at Blanchard Law, P.A. in Largo on March 21, 2023, according to information in documents filed with Pinellas County courts.

www.fox13news.com

Published March 29, 2023 4:36PM | Updated 9:59PM
[...]
On March 27, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office filed a temporary risk protection order, which a judge approved. It ordered Kosowski to turn over all of his guns and ammunition. The order restricts a person who may be a threat to themselves or others from possessing firearms or ammunition. According to the filing, detectives believe Kosowski had 100 handguns, 100 rifles, 1,000 rifle rounds and 1,000 handgun rounds in his home.

Kosowski’s attorney, who said his client is presumed innocent, wouldn’t comment on the number of firearms, but said they did comply with the request. He said the firearms were removed from the home and stored in a separate location.

Court records in the filing said there is evidence that Kosowski may be mentally ill, has engaged in acts of violence and has threatened to use weapons against himself or others.

A judge will determine whether to make the temporary risk protection order final on April 5 at 11 a.m.
[...]

 

[Snoopster]

Brief video included in below link, news reporter states "new documents reveal a judge ordered the suspect to hand over more than 200 firearms."

Fellow lawyers remember Largo attorney Steven Cozzi as 'kind, genuine, a kind soul with a brilliant mind'

Fellow attorneys with the St. Petersburg Bar Association gathered on Wednesday night to remember the colleague. Steven Cozzi was reported missing more than a week ago under suspicious circumstances.

www.abcactionnews.com

Posted at 9:21 PM, Mar 29, 2023
PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — The legal community gathered on Wednesday night to remember their colleague, Steven Cozzi.

from the above link:

Records revealed in January of 2023 that Cozzi and Kosowski had previously attended a deposition at the Blanchard Law office suite that became contentious. After the deposition, Kosowski confronted Cozzi in the men's restroom in the common area just outside the office and verbally confronted Cozzi again before leaving.

Cozzi was obviously already familiar with the men's washroom at the Blanchard office building.
It's also why Blanchard told LE he could only think of one person who had a problem with Cozzi.

 

[Snoopster]

Lots of details in this news article. . .
. . . guns, ammunition, mentally ill, violence, etc:

Largo lawyer murder: Blood, firearms, $280,000 cash found in search of surgeon's vehicles, home, police say

A Pinellas County plastic surgeon may have been planning to harm or kill a lawyer for days before he showed up at Blanchard Law, P.A. in Largo on March 21, 2023, according to information in documents filed with Pinellas County courts.

www.fox13news.com

Published March 29, 2023 4:36PM | Updated 9:59PM
[...]
On March 27, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office filed a temporary risk protection order, which a judge approved. It ordered Kosowski to turn over all of his guns and ammunition. The order restricts a person who may be a threat to themselves or others from possessing firearms or ammunition. According to the filing, detectives believe Kosowski had 100 handguns, 100 rifles, 1,000 rifle rounds and 1,000 handgun rounds in his home.

Kosowski’s attorney, who said his client is presumed innocent, wouldn’t comment on the number of firearms, but said they did comply with the request. He said the firearms were removed from the home and stored in a separate location.

Court records in the filing said there is evidence that Kosowski may be mentally ill, has engaged in acts of violence and has threatened to use weapons against himself or others.

A judge will determine whether to make the temporary risk protection order final on April 5 at 11 a.m.
[...]

This guy was obviously a ticking time bomb. I bet there were others on this 'hit list'.
An injustice collector.

 

[Nikynoo]

Lots of details in this news article. . .
. . . guns, ammunition, mentally ill, violence, etc:

Largo lawyer murder: Blood, firearms, $280,000 cash found in search of surgeon's vehicles, home, police say

A Pinellas County plastic surgeon may have been planning to harm or kill a lawyer for days before he showed up at Blanchard Law, P.A. in Largo on March 21, 2023, according to information in documents filed with Pinellas County courts.

www.fox13news.com

Published March 29, 2023 4:36PM | Updated 9:59PM
[...]
On March 27, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office filed a temporary risk protection order, which a judge approved. It ordered Kosowski to turn over all of his guns and ammunition. The order restricts a person who may be a threat to themselves or others from possessing firearms or ammunition. According to the filing, detectives believe Kosowski had 100 handguns, 100 rifles, 1,000 rifle rounds and 1,000 handgun rounds in his home.

Kosowski’s attorney, who said his client is presumed innocent, wouldn’t comment on the number of firearms, but said they did comply with the request. He said the firearms were removed from the home and stored in a separate location.

Court records in the filing said there is evidence that Kosowski may be mentally ill, has engaged in acts of violence and has threatened to use weapons against himself or others.

A judge will determine whether to make the temporary risk protection order final on April 5 at 11 a.m.
[...]

Thanks for this. It would appear from the number of guns, together with the amount of cash found in his car, that perhaps 'Mr K' had a 'sideline'.

 

[SeesSeas]

Just thinking this morning that with all the information available so far, it looks like he planned so many aspects of this and so might also have planned a place to take Mr. Cozzi. Storage unit? Another owned property somewhere?

And since he was using his phone at the scene and his car afterwards, hopefully they can track his movements with car/phone gps data location.

MOO

I agree that TK might have taken Cozzi to another location. It seems TK wanted his victim to not just be dead, but to suffer significantly.
I wonder if Cozzi was alive and conscious, but physically paralyzed, while in the cart. Succinylcholine and syringes were found in the search warrant, among other medical items.

Succinylcholine (Anectine) - Master Anesthesia

Therapeutic Effects:Short-acting depolarizing neuromuscular blockade

masteranesthesia.com

Succinylcholine (Anectine)​

Anesthesia Implications​

Therapeutic Effects:Short-acting depolarizing neuromuscular blockade
Classification:Short-acting depolarizing neuromuscular blocker
Time to Onset:60 seconds
Duration:up to 6 minutes
Method of Action: Succinylcholine [...] results in skeletal muscle paralysis. Composition of this drug makes it specific to skeletal muscle, so cardiac and smooth muscle remain unaffected.

Suxamethonium chloride - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Suxamethonium chloride, also known as suxamethonium or succinylcholine, or simply sux by medical abbreviation [...]

Suxamethonium does not produce unconsciousness or anesthesia, and its effects may cause considerable psychological distress while simultaneously making it impossible for a patient to communicate. Therefore, administration of the drug to a conscious patient is contraindicated.

Deliberate induction of conscious apnea using this drug led to its use as a form of aversion therapy in the 1960s and 1970s in some prison and institutional settings.[17][18][19] This use was discontinued after negative publicity concerning the terrifying effects on subjects of this treatment and ethical questions about the punitive use of painful aversion.

 

[Snoopster]

Regarding the 'cart', I just saw this alternate description ...

At 10:22 a.m., a man wearing jeans, a blue short-sleeved shirt, a backpack, and a white surgical mask came out of the main entrance of the law firm, "tugging and pulling at what appeared to be a small wagon on wheels with a heavy load."

BBM

Largo lawyer murder: Blood, firearms, $280,000 cash found in search of surgeon's vehicles, home, police say

Perhpas this is what was in the "large box" that the suspected perp carried into the building. I had wondered where the cart came from, but I had pictured a large moving cart such as those common at condo buildings for residents.

 

[Nila Aella]

3/21/2023

8:34 Entered the building.
9:50 Cozzi went to the bathroom
10:22 Leaves the building
10:28 - 11:04 Attended the hearing by phone
11:05 Repositioning the wagon near the truck.
11:15 Walks to NW corner of building looking at entrance then walks West to parking lot
11:46 Police arrive
11:58 Arrives at his residence
4:58 Leaves his home
later Tag reader picks his car up in Miami.

3/25/2023 Stopped in Pinellas County

Largo lawyer murder: Blood, firearms, $280,000 cash found in search of surgeon's vehicles, home, police say

A Pinellas County plastic surgeon may have been planning to harm or kill a lawyer for days before he showed up at Blanchard Law, P.A. in Largo on March 21, 2023, according to information in documents filed with Pinellas County courts.

www.fox13news.com

A few things added from the article into the timeline: also noticed they changed cart to wagon and more movement before he left the lot.

At 10:22 a.m., a man wearing jeans, a blue short-sleeved shirt, a backpack, and a white surgical mask came out of the main entrance of the law firm, "tugging and pulling at what appeared to be a small wagon on wheels with a heavy load."

At 11:05 a.m., the same man repositioned the cart in the parking lot and again went out of view of the camera. At 11:15, the man, now wearing a gray shirt and jeans, walked from the parking lot to the northwest corner of the building, and looked toward the main entrance of the law firm before turning around and walking west to the parking lot.

A minute later, a gray pickup truck left the parking lot. Police said the red or orange bag was in the back of the truck.

https://www.websleuths.com/forums/attachments/complaint-pdf.412064/

And, I don't see any mention of them finding the wagon in his garage, did I miss it? MOO

​