Tipster: Koliser admitted crimes

The suspect told an acquaintance he learned survivalist tactics in prison.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The man who guided a SWAT team to Martin L. Koliser Jr. in Florida says the suspect accused of killing a police officer showed no remorse.
"He told me the whole confession -- about shooting the one guy [at a bar] and then shooting the police officer. He had zero remorse. He said he thought about it on the drive down here, that he had no remorse," said John, who asked that his last name not be used. "I tried to get him off the subject."
If not for John, Koliser wouldn't be at the Pinellas County jail in Clearwater, Fla., police said. U.S. marshals are expected to transport Koliser to Youngstown early next week.
Koliser, 30, whose last known address was in Boardman, is charged with aggravated murder in the shooting death of city Patrolman Michael T. Hartzell, 26, who is to be buried today at Resurrection Cemetery in Austintown.
John said he conveyed his condolences Friday to Hartzell's family and fianc & eacute;e, Stephanie Harchar, through Police Chief Robert E. Bush Jr.
Ambushed at traffic light
Police said Koliser ambushed Hartzell, shooting the officer twice in the head and once in his bulletproof vest at 2:19 a.m. Tuesday, when they both ended up at the red light at West Federal Street and Vindicator Square. Hartzell was on his way to the police station to drop off reports of a shooting outside the Casaloma Gardens on Mahoning Avenue two hours earlier.
Koliser also is charged in that crime, the attempted murder of Donell J. Rowe, 23, of Youngstown, who remains hospitalized in stable condition. "He said 'That son of a b---- didn't die,'" John said, quoting Koliser and calling him cold-blooded.
John said Koliser's motive for shooting Hartzell was that he thought the officer had followed him and was calling for backup. Hartzell called to run Koliser's license plate because the Lincoln had been spotted outside the Casaloma.
John and his fianc & eacute;e, Lisa Ferguson, 30, of Austintown told The Vindicator how they came to know Koliser and what happened, beginning about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, when Koliser called John in Florida, six hours after the cop shooting, said he "needed a break" and was driving to Florida.
Ferguson said she and John have a "commuter" relationship; he travels here frequently to see her. John said they'll be married in June.
How they met
Ferguson said she met Koliser 15 years ago, when both were in group homes. She lost track of him until last December, when he began dating a woman in her apartment building.
She introduced Koliser to John, a friendly sort, who said, "Sure, look me up if you're ever in Florida" and handed over a business card.
"When I met [Koliser] last December, he bragged about stabbing a guy," John said. "I thought at the time, 'This is one sick puppy.'"
Ferguson, a bartender, said there was never a friendship with Koliser -- he wasn't someone she wanted to spend time with. She said he described himself as "a warrior, a survivalist, someone who'd eat a rat."
John said Koliser talked about learning survival tactics in prison. Koliser has been in and out of jails and prison since he was 18, and was placed on parole last December.
John said he was unaware of the Hartzell shooting suspect -- police had initially named someone else -- when Koliser called at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday and said he was on his way to Florida. About 10 minutes later, Ferguson saw the correct name on television and alerted her fianc & eacute; in Florida, who had called her about Koliser's impending visit.
Ferguson then called police here and had them camped out at her apartment for the next 40-plus hours. John spent Tuesday and Wednesday with the FBI in Florida, arranging a sting at the Knight's Inn in Palm Harbor.
At the motel
John, a smoker, paid for a nonsmoking room for Koliser, also a smoker, who had only $100 on him. The nonsmoking room gave John an excuse to leave the motel door open while they smoked so that police could see what was happening inside the room.
The motel was under heavy surveillance by 50 SWAT team members. One, a female FBI agent, casually walked by the open motel room door.
John said Koliser confessed everything and even got on the floor to demonstrate how he hid in a marsh area, covered with mud, to elude police.
"He was laughing, bragging -- for what he did, he needed to be caught," John said. "He said, 'I'm not going down. They're gonna have to take me.' Life meant nothing to him."
Koliser intended to return to Youngstown in a day or two, having "two pieces of unfinished business" to take care of, John said.
John had to think of an exit plan from the motel room.
He offered to get Koliser $200 from an automated teller machine, clothes and a big hunting knife. Koliser, he said, had wanted a gun to replace the one he used to shoot Hartzell.
Once John was clear of the room, police called Koliser from the lobby and told him to look outside. An armored carrier called "The Peacemaker" was parked out front.
Koliser then surrendered to police at 10:10 p.m. Wednesday.
Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul J. Gains said he will seek the death penalty for Koliser.
meade@vindy.com