By: JJ Burton
PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (Scripps News Tampa) — Dr. Tomasz Kosowski walked into court dressed in orange, holding papers, and with little expression on his face Tuesday morning.
Tomasz Kosowski sits in court, at a hearing where he was denied bond in his murder trial. (Scripps News Tampa)
He’s accused of killing Pinellas County attorney Steven Cozzi back in March.
Kosowski sat silently for nearly six hours while several witnesses took the stand, including Jacob Pillsbury. He’s one of the lawyers who worked with Steven Cozzi on the medical billing lawsuit against Kosowski. According to the prosecution, that lawsuit is what led to Kosowski allegedly killing Cozzi.
During his time on the stand, Pillsbury looked at Kosowski and told the judge that he’s terrified of the doctor, and he doesn’t want him to get bond.
“There’s no reason not to believe that he wouldn’t come after me or my clients,” he said. “My clients are freaking out. Of course I’m afraid.”
MORE: Police: Blood, video link doctor to lawyer’s disappearance
Court documents showed Kosowski attacked Cozzi at his law office, then signed on to a video court hearing that Cozzi never showed up to. Prosecutors believe he was already dead. They believe after the hearing, he drove down to the Everglades and dumped Cozzi’s body.
Cozzi’s husband, Michael Montgomery, also testified. He and Cozzi talked about the lawsuit, and he told the court Cozzi would describe how angry Kosowski would get. Montgomery told the judge that he asked his husband to get some kind of protection days before he was reported missing.
“I expressed it to him that I wanted him and Jake Blanchard to get some kind of on-site security for the next time they meet with this doctor. I just had a bad feeling,” he said.
Kosowski has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. He’s facing the death penalty.
His pretrial hearing is set for October 5.
This story was originally published on July 11, 2023, by Scripps News Tampa in Tampa, an E.W. Scripps Company.
