A plastic surgeon in the Tampa area has been charged with murder. He is accused of killing a lawyer who hasn’t been seen since last week at a firm that represents his former co-workers in a business dispute.
Largo police arrested Dr. Tomasz Kosowski on Saturday and charged him with first-degree murder in the disappearance of Steven Cozzi. Cozzi was last seen at his workplace, Blanchard Law, on Tuesday.
Even though Cozzi’s body hasn’t been found, police said Sunday that they have proof that Kosowski killed him.
They said that Cozzi’s wallet, phone, and keys were found in the bathroom of the law office, along with a lot of blood. They say they saw a strange person and car at the office, which led them to Kosowski. Police said that when they searched the doctor’s home in Tarpon Springs, they found proof that led to his arrest. They didn’t say anything more.
Kosowski, who goes by the name “Dr. K,” is 44 years old and was being held without bail at the Pinellas County Jail on Sunday. The court and jail records don’t say if he has a lawyer or not.
Kosowski sued his former boss and coworkers four years ago, and Blanchard Law has been representing them ever since. Jake Blanchard, the firm’s main partner, didn’t respond right away to an email and a phone call on Sunday asking for a comment.
Kosowski said in the lawsuit that he started working for Laufer Institute of Plastic Surgery in 2016 and did mostly breast reconstruction surgeries. He said that the woman Laufer Institute sent to do his insurance billing didn’t file claims and lied to his patients, which cost him tens of thousands of dollars and led to bad reviews of him being posted online.
Kosowski’s lawsuit says that the woman’s actions have “basically wiped out” Dr. K’s promising young career. “Through no fault of his own, his career was immediately put in danger, and his reputation was severely hurt.”
In 2018, he left Laufer Institute and started his own practise. On Sunday, Laufer Institute didn’t answer the phone right away when they were called for comment.