The 30-year-old triggered a two-day manhunt in April after he fled from Youngstown, Ohio, to a motel in Palm Harbor where he was arrested.
By AARON SHAROCKMAN
Published November 11, 2003
A man who fled to Florida after killing an Ohio police officer in April has been sentenced to death based on testimony and evidence from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office and a Clearwater man.
Martin L. Koliser Jr., 30, was arrested April 30 at a Palm Harbor motel, the day after he shot and killed Youngstown, Ohio, police Patrolman Michael Hartzell, 26, and wounded another man, 23-year-old Donell Rowe.
During the four-day trial in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, Koliser's attorneys did not present a single witness in defense. Assistant prosecutor Jay Macejko said it was obvious that Koliser, who was convicted Friday and is scheduled to be executed March 9, wanted to die.
"That is his personality," Macejko said Monday. "What I noticed is throughout his adolescence, he would commit some bad act and immediately accept responsibility. This was the ultimate bad act, and he accepted responsibility."
But not before a two-day, 1,100-mile, multiagency manhunt.
It all started in Youngstown, Ohio, a blue-collar city of 82,000 people near the Pennsylvania-Ohio border. Koliser was in an argument with Rowe outside a bar in the early morning hours of April 29 when he pulled a gun from his waistband and shot Rowe in the chest.
"Everyone ran," said Koliser in a note written to his sister and discovered by Pinellas County sheriff's deputies. "I got in my car and left to a friend's."
There, Koliser swapped cars, and started out of town.
On his way, Koliser happened to stop at an intersection in front of Hartzell, who was the first officer on the scene where Rowe was shot.
"I pulled over, got out of the car and blew his head off," the note said. "I'm not going back (to jail)."
Soon after, Koliser called John Rizzotto, a 43-year-old Clearwater man he had met just twice through Rizzotto's Ohio fiancee, Lisa Ferguson.
Koliser said he was in trouble and needed a place to stay. He was heading to Florida in a car he had borrowed from a friend.
Rizzotto said he was immediately suspicious that an acquaintance he hardly remembered was suddenly asking for help. That's when he checked a Web site, found that Koliser was wanted for murder and called authorities.
"I think I just invited a cop killer to my house," Rizzotto said after Koliser's arrest.
When Koliser arrived the following evening, Rizzotto agreed to lure him to a Knight's Inn on U.S. 19 near Nebraska Avenue.
There, 50 law enforcement officers from the FBI, the U.S. Marshals and the Sheriff's Office surrounded his room at about 10 p.m. Koliser gave himself up.
"(Rizzotto) definitely did assist in the latter part of the manhunt," Macejko said. "I compliment him for his quick thinking and for calling authorities."
Sheriff's deputies later discovered the two-page handwritten note from Koliser to his sister and were able to match fingerprints left on the note to Koliser. Motel housecleaners found the note written on yellow legal-pad paper in Koliser's room the day after he was arrested, sheriff's spokesman Detective Tim Goodman said.
The hotel employees then handed the note over to deputies. Forensics teams matched left thumbprints on the note to Koliser, Goodman said.
Macejko said that was the state's strongest evidence linking Koliser to the crimes.
The note describes in some detail the circumstances of both shootings and offers Koliser's motive for the crimes. Witness testimony corroborated the note's validity.
"That fact made the case a back-breaker," Macejko said. "The Sheriff's Office played an integral role in making this such a strong case. They deserve a big "Thank you.' "
Deputy Stanley Schneider and an undercover detective went to Youngstown to testify at the trial, Goodman said.
Rizzotto and Ferguson, who attended the entire trial and were flying back to Florida on Monday, are happy with the outcome, Ferguson said. Rizzotto, who testified, did not want to immediately speak with reporters.
"We're glad that he's gonna die," Ferguson said. "He deserves it. But at the same time, you almost want him to be stuck in jail because he wanted to die."
