Murderer seeking state-funded sex change operation asks for more than $800,000 in attorney fees and costs

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

Michelle Kosilek, the convicted murderer who is seeking a taxpayer-funded sex change operation, is asking for more than $800,000 in attorney’s fees and costs.

Attorneys for Kosilek made the request in a filing in US District Court today, asking for $644,573 in attorney's fees and and $161,873 in costs.

Kosilek won her legal battle in US District Court in September. But the state is appealing the controversial ruling by US District Judge Mark Wolf that the surgery is the only adequate care for Kosilek’s gender identity disorder.

Attorney Frances S. Cohen said in an affidavit in support of the request that she had represented Kosilek since 2000 and the legal team had performed “significant substantive work” on a case involving “complex and sensitive issues.”

Under Globe policy, Kosilek is being referred to as a woman because that is the gender with which she identifies.

Born Robert Kosilek, Michelle Kosilek began transitioning to a female identity in 1990, the year that she strangled her then-wife. She has been staying in a men’s prison while taking hormones and developing female physical qualities.