Cop: It'll end when Koliser dies

The police chief said the conviction brings relief to a grief-torn department.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- "Attention all cars, we have a unanimous guilty verdict on all counts."
The message, broadcast at 2:48 p.m. Thursday by a Youngstown Police Department radio dispatcher, ended one chapter in the unfolding drama that began six months ago, when 26-year-old Patrolman Michael T. Hartzell was shot to death.
The message was repeated again at 2:49 p.m.
Hartzell's killer, Martin L. Koliser Jr., 30, of Boardman, will learn next week if the jury that convicted him wants him to die by lethal injection or spend his life in prison.
It won't really be over until Koliser is dead, said Patrolman Michael Cox, who worked "C" turn with Hartzell. When Hartzell was shot at 2:19 a.m. April 29, Cox was working radio dispatch.
Cox said the jury's verdict was a no-brainer, that everyone knew Koliser would be found guilty.
"Until he's put to death, everyone on our turn, the guys who were working and had to search for him, that's when they'll feel it's complete," Cox said.
When call came in
When an Independent Taxi dispatcher called 911 and reported that an officer had been shot on West Federal Street, Cox thought, at first, that the dispatcher meant a security guard at Home Savings and Loan. No police officer had used a radio to ask for help.
Hartzell was shot in his cruiser at Vindicator Square and West Federal, near the taxi company.
Cox said the next call came over Hartzell's own police radio, from a taxi driver who had rushed over to help. Cox said it took him a few seconds to comprehend the situation and not overreact.
"I actually heard the gunshots. It was a warm night and the shots echoed through the building," Cox said. "We didn't know it at the time, we thought maybe it was fireworks. It was about the time the bars closed."
Chief's comments
Police Chief Robert E. Bush Jr. said the conviction brings relief to a police department that had been torn with grief over Hartzell's death. Now, Bush said he and the officers want to see Koliser pay with "the ultimate penalty."
"Mike Hartzell represented society," Bush said. "Martin Koliser killed one of our brothers and he should be punished accordingly."
Koliser's antics during the trial -- mugging at witnesses, dozing off at times, laughing during graphic testimony -- are indicative of the kind of person he is, Bush said.
"He's below us as people. He's not a member of our society," the chief said. "He doesn't believe in the rule of law and he showed that in the courtroom."
Lt. Rod Foley, head of the vice squad, said it was apparent that Koliser had no remorse. "My impression? I don't think that kid [Koliser] cared."
No applause
Foley said reaction at the police station Thursday afternoon included hugs but no applause. The feeling was "it's over," he said.
Foley said putting Koliser to death will be anticlimatic. It won't bring Hartzell back.
"I didn't want to go to the trial," Foley said. I would have stared at [Koliser]. The officer wasn't doing anything to him. What a waste."
After Hartzell was killed, a command center was established to handle leads coming in that eventually lead to the capture of Koliser in Florida. Lt. Robin Lees coordinated the search effort at the command center.
"I felt all along this would be the outcome, knowing the evidence accumulated," Lees said of the verdict. "I think the death penalty is appropriate, given the heinous nature of the killing. This was a cowardly ambush."
meade@vindy.com
XContributor: Bob Jackson, courthouse reporter.