John Towey John Towey is an actor who played Vedek Ossan in the episode . Towey acted in the Christmas film " You Better Watch Out " ( 1980 ) with Mark Margolis . This was followed by the 1981 telefilm simply titled " Bill " with John Eric Bentley . In 1988 , Towey appeared in the family film " The Invisible Kid " opposite Wallace Langham and Jay Underwood , also that year was " Another Woman " with Harris Yulin . In 1993 , Towey was cast in " Fearless " with film performer Steven Culp , Q actor John de Lancie , Stephanie Erb and Eric Menyuk . Towey was seen in the telefilm " From the Mixed - Up Files of Mrs . Basil T . Frankweiler " ( 1995 ) with Ian Abercrombie , Miriam Flynn and Warren Munson . Towey performed in " Alien Nation : Millennium " ( 1996 ) , which was based on the television series starring Ron Fassler , Gary Graham , Eric Pierpoint and Michele Scarabelli . Joining Towey and the former series leads were Keene Curtis , Susan Diol , Steven Flynn and Herta Ware . Towey ' s last film work was the TV movie " Then Came Jones " ( 2003 ) with Spencer Garrett . DS9 was not Towey ' s first work with series lead Avery Brooks , as Towey had guested on Brooks ' earlier series " Spencer : For Hire " also starring Carolyn McCormick . In 1990 he appeared in the sitcom " Murphy Brown " in " I Want My FYI " with John Hostetter . That year , Towey was seen on the horror series " Tales from the Crypt " starring John Kassir in " Dead Right " with Earl Boen and Natalia Nogulich . Towey worked on " The Fresh Prince of Bel - Air " starring James Avery in " Clubba Hubba " . In 1991 , Towey was on " Dream On " starring Chris Demetral , Paul Dooley and Michael McKean in " The Charlotte Letter " with Ray Walston , as well as " Empty Nest " in " Her Cheatin Heart " with Christopher McDonald . In 1996 , Towey appeared on Ray Walston ' s own series " Picket Fences " also starring Kelly Connell and Justin Shenkarow in " To Forgive is Devine " with Caroline Lagerfelt and Henry Woronicz . Drama continued with " Party of Five " in " Short Cuts " with Bruce French . 1997 began with Towey reuniting with Carolyn McCormick on her series " Cracker : Mind Over Murder " with Angela Paton . Following DS9 , Towey worked on the cop series " Martial Law " starring Tom Wright in " Extreme Measures " ( 1998 ) . In 1999 Towey appeared on " The X - Files " in " S . R . 819 " with Kenneth Tigar . In 2000 he appeared on " Crossing Jordan " starring Miguel Ferrer in " Wrong Place , Wrong Time " with K Callan and Mark Kiely , followed up by a role on the 1960s period drama " American Dreams " starring Virginia Madsen in " High Hopes " . Towey has had some scenes deleted on several series on which he was about to guest star . This included Towey about to play Joe Costello on the single plot legal drama " Murder One " starring Daniel Benzali , Barbara Bosson , John Fleck , Gregory Itzin and Kevin Tighe in " Chapter Two " ( 1995 ) with Marnie McPhail , Leland Orser , Jack Shearer and Ned Vaughn . Then five years later on " The Practice " starring Bruce Davison in " Show & Tell " ( 2000 ) with Zach Grenier . Towey played a recurring role as a reporter on the legal series " LA Law " starring Corbin Bernsen , Larry Drake and Diana Muldaur . He appeared in episodes with John de Lancie , Francis Guinan , Charles Napier , Michael Cumpsty , Angelina Fiordellisi and Joseph Ruskin , Jerry Hardin , Daniel Davis , Dakin Matthews and Ron Canada .