Florida Woman Found Stabbed to Death Under Hotel Mattress

Under the bed they say the heat can make a person crazy And there are few places hotter than Florida in the middle of august And a few people are more unhinged than a florida man hiding from the law. August 28, 2022. A housekeeper at a motel in Braydenton, Florida clocks in at work. She spends her morning scrubbing counters and fluffing pillows while guests are away. Then just after lunch, she pushes her cart down the second floor breezeway and uses her master key to open the door to room 217. She notices the sheets on one of the beds are missing. That's when she peers underneath it and makes an unexpected gruesome discovery. The missing sheets now bloodied. The Manatee County Police Department is on the scene in minutes. [BLANK_AUDIO] Fire and rescue arrive first. The 911 dispatcher briefed them on the call, but they never could have expected what they're about to walk into. [BLANK_AUDIO] The housekeeper points to where police can find it. [BLANK_AUDIO] A body wrapped in bed sheets. [BLANK_AUDIO] It seems Manatee County is now looking at a homicide. [BLANK_AUDIO] The homicide unit arrives and the responding officer gives them a rundown of what he already knows. [BLANK_AUDIO] I knock nobody out, no one answers at this point. I don't know if anyone's in there or not. [BLANK_AUDIO] The only thing I did, fire brought up the box screen. The mattress was the way it was when we arrived. The only thing that was down was the box screen. The fire lifted it up when it made pointed that she was under the bed. [BLANK_AUDIO] The breezeway filled with law enforcement and lined with yellow caution tape signals to other motel guests that something bad must have happened in that room. [BLANK_AUDIO] Okay, did you guys see or with anybody else yesterday or? [BLANK_AUDIO] And you hear one young boy, do you know his name? [BLANK_AUDIO] You know what he looks like? [BLANK_AUDIO] He's getting light here, I don't know. Blonde hair, black hair, brown, white male. [BLANK_AUDIO] Investigators aren't yet sure who the victim in room 217 is. All they know for now is what they can see. She's a woman, young in her 20s or early 30s. And she's suffered multiple injuries that appear to be stab wounds. As for the man, neighbors describe, investigators haven't seen him around yet. There are security cameras mounted along the breezeway and near the stairs. But in a stroke of bad luck, or maybe in a premeditated act, the cameras have all been disabled. [BLANK_AUDIO] So for now, investigators are relying on descriptions from nosy neighbors, hotel staff, and potential witnesses. [BLANK_AUDIO] Did you know that your personal data is being harvested and sold online by data brokers? Anyone can buy your personal details. When this happens, you're at risk for a whole host of things like identity theft, becoming the target of fishing scams, potential stalking, and honestly a ton more. And that's why I'm so happy to tell you about our sponsor, Delete Me. Delete Me helps keep your personal info private. I use Delete Me and honestly, it's crazy what I found. They found 1,000 and 47 data brokers with my personal information. And very quickly removed my data from 215 total listings. Doing that myself would have taken me a full eight hour work day. And they're going to keep monitoring the sites for you to make sure your info doesn't end up back on there after the first removal. Using Delete Me has given me peace of mind about my family too because if someone buys your data via a data broker, they can see info about your relatives too. So right now you can get 20% off Delete Me and protect your personal data. Go to joindeleteme.com/investigates and use the promo code Investigates to check out. That's joindeleteme.com/investigates promo code Investigates. I talked to the neighbors next door. They say it's constantly in and out of drug addicts. But she's normally with someone like guys about 5, 8, 5, 9, so that's about what I can tell you. Don't know what I'm saying. I haven't even made the people in our net. I don't think so. They just know she was here in Kabul. Saying they're all geeked out on drugs constantly falling down the stairs. Disabled cameras and a room that might serve as a crash pad for transients and alleged drug users could lead to a drawn out investigation. But in this case, investigators have a helpful piece of information up their sleeve. The Motel Logbook. The Motel Log identifies the victim as 26-year-old Jennifer Per Galisi. A deep dive on Per Galisi's social media accounts doesn't officially confirm what the motel neighbors said about drug use in room 217. The interactions on her posts do indicate that Per Galisi was going through something. The Motel Log also confirms that Per Galisi has been staying at the Motel for the last week. Her boyfriend, the man who investigators want to track down now, has become a familiar face in the downstairs lobby. By the late afternoon, investigators have spoken to enough people to come up with a name for their suspect. 24-year-old Steven Joseph Cozins, a local with a lengthy rap sheet consisting of smaller charges like petty theft and trespassing. Cozins and Per Galisi both live in Bradenton and based on their social media posts from the previous year, it seems like they've been in a relationship for a while. But the pair might have been struggling. It didn't seem unusual for them to spend time in motels and they sometimes went long periods without seeing each other. Now, investigators have gathered enough information about Cozins to make an arrest. They just have to find him. Cozins hasn't returned to the room, but they have a feeling he didn't go far. At 3pm, he was seen at the Walmart just half a mile away. Then around an hour later, Cozins was spotted at a nearby gas station. As police can't visit the area, one woman comes forward to tell investigators they just spoke with Cozins, not five minutes earlier. In the sweltering floor to heat, investigators know their suspect can't hide outside for long. At some point, they'll likely head into a nearby building or try to take off in a vehicle. And when he does, they'll be there waiting to put him in cuffs. The search dog boss trails a fresh scent and the officer knows Cozins is close by. - Come on out, come on out, walk up, walk up, walk up. He's sitting right here. - Actually you got your hands in the new. - Hey, hey. (birds chirping) - Good boy boss. Cousins only makes it five hours on the run before boss and the Manatee County Homicide Unit place him in cuffs. - Hey, get that up there. - Sigger. - Hey, can you get clubs? - While a few officers hang back together possible DNA evidence, Cousins is placed in a squad car and driven to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office for questioning. And from the start, investigators are curious about the Florida man. They just found hiding in the bushes less than a mile from where he allegedly killed a woman. - So what's your story, man? I gotta know, because you're pretty slim guy. You got a problem with drugs? Okay, how long? Most of your life, 'cause you were pretty big dude. One time you look cosky. Big. You know, what's your drug of choice? - Harold. - Harold. - That's not wrong. (birds chirping) - I have. - What does it you think you're here for? - Okay. - And who is the person that you murdered? - Okay. - All right. So, we got the hard part out of the way. - Without an attorney present, Cousins is quick to confess to killing his girlfriend. But investigators want the details, especially because Cousins alleges Jennifer is the one who started the argument that led to her death. - Just tell us what happened. We have a pretty good timeline, but just break it down for us. - Harold arguing because she says that I was cheating on her with an invisible gun. - Okay. - Okay. - Sorry. - She tried to stab me. - Okay. - She got there. - Don't take them off, is that, that's what that is? - Yeah. - Okay, we'll get him later. That's fine. - Up until the murder, Cousins had been living at the motel turned crime scene. For Galisi was staying with him when an argument broke out over whether Cousins was cheating on her. - So, obviously, you and Jennifer, you're at the hotel, right, you're in the room. And what are you doing when this starts? - She was getting on. - Okay, okay, and you were doing what? - Playing in bed. - You were laying in bed, okay. And is she, she in the same bed with you? Okay, and there are two beds in the room. Okay, one closest to the door or the one closest to the bathroom. Okay, so you're laying in bed, she's laying in bed and she starts in with this invisible people you're having in the fair. Okay, and then what happens? - She tries to attack me because she's tired of me being a scumbag. - Okay. - Okay, and describe that, what, what happened? - Well, I pushed her off and I got the knife just after. - Okay. - All right, she was just on your (beep) and wouldn't let up. - Never did it. - Never did. - Yeah, like the Chihuahua, you don't like the barking dog nipping at ya. You know, I understand. I understand. - Apparently, Cozin's defended himself against Pergaleezy repeatedly because police could see. She had multiple stab wounds. Something Cozin's doesn't deny. - I'm gonna tell you, thank you for that. I'm gonna call her. - All right. - All right. - So what's going on in this moment, okay? So you've disarmed her, she's tried to stab you. You've disarmed her. She is, you now have the knife, okay? And are we on the bed? Still, you're on the floor. We're in between the beds. - In between the beds, okay. - And you're on top of her at this point? - Okay. - And what is she wearing? - She had a white shirt on. - Okay. - White shirt and shorts, okay. - A white shirt stained deep red by the time investigators got to the hotel room that afternoon. After, Cozin's had already tried to clean up the scene. - This is why I try to do some serious cleaning here. - Okay, and then what'd you do? - I'm trying to cover it up. - Okay. - Describe to me. So you tried to cover it up. What does that mean? - Try it. - Okay. - All right. And what did you do? - He used the towels, the white clothes, everything. Took him that sheet and wrapped her. - Okay. - I kind of slept her under the bed. - Okay. - And you did that one closest to the door. - Right, and you did that by yourself. - Okay. - And did you use a cleaner? - No. - So we found a bottle of fatulose on there. - That's what the cleaner means. - They're saying that it's not theirs. - It's not mine. - Okay. - All right, I believe you. - Cozin's tells the detective that it took him about two hours to clean up the motel room, pack up his and purgeleazy's belongings and push her body underneath the bed. - Okay, so you didn't use anything to try to clean up. You just water and towels. Did you use any clothing? Did you throw any clothing out when you were done? Because the room looks vacant, right? So did you have clothing in there and Jennifer had clothing in there? Okay, so obviously you took your stuff with you and where's your clothing? - Okay. - It's not clear how long Cozin's thought he would make it, hiding out in the woods just across the street from the crime scene and about a four-minute walk from the Manatee County Sheriff's Office. Because Cozin's made plans to hang out with friends after he killed Jennifer. - Did you tell anybody what happened? - No, you just kept it to yourself. Even when you were with them today, did they know something was up? - They could kind of come. - Right, from your demeanor. - That means all the cops everywhere. - Right. - You know, a funny story, so we're out there and the old time I know you're nearby, right? I like it's bugger pain. I'm like, this happened where you in Chevron? - No, I was in a pickup truck. - So you took my Chevron station? - Yeah, but right in front of my heart. - Were you there? - No, okay. But because I knew you were in Walmart at three something and then I think you were at Chevron around four and I'm like, yeah, I'm like, he's around here somewhere. I couldn't figure out, I just couldn't find any place you had to go, right? You didn't really have any transportation and I figured you had little to no money. And so that's when I had everybody regroup and I said, we gotta find a guy, he's around here somewhere. The fact that you didn't run, run, run, told me, I felt very confident that you were going to home and you were going to talk to us and because, you know, even if I thought you were going to be a (beep) we just still brought you food, don't get me wrong. I mean, we deal with a lot of terrible people and I'm not saying you're one because I think the gravity of this is weighing on you, pretty heavy. So listen man, here's a deal, okay? Obviously, you're going to get charged with murder, okay? It's going to be second-degree murder, okay? It's not first-degree, you know, obviously you're not dumb, you know, we recorded all of this and we record that to protect you and us, okay? Crime scene, our crime scene people are going to come over, they're going to take some photos of you, okay? So there's going to be some things that some process, you're going to be here for a little while, okay? The detectives leave cousins in the interrogation room to finish his food before the crime scene analysts come in to photograph his scratches. In the end, cousins was charged with premeditated first-degree murder for the stabbing death of Jennifer Pergaleese and faced up to life in prison. But the week cousins is set to go to trial in December 2024, the state amends the charge to second-degree murder with a weapon and cousins accepts the plea deal. Stephen Joseph Cozins is sentenced to 60 years in prison if he lives long enough to see the outside of a cell again. He will be 86 years old.