KOLISER TRIAL Friend testifies about buying bullets, holster for defendant

The pages of the Muslim holy book had been hollowed out to hold a gun.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Martin L. Koliser Jr. apparently looked to the Koran for more than inspiration. It's also where he went to get his gun.
Koliser, 30, of Boardman, is on trial in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court in the aggravated murder of Youngstown Patrolman Michael T. Hartzell and the attempted murder of Donell Rowe.
About 50 spectators packed into Judge R. Scott Krichbaum's courtroom Monday to hear the first day of testimony. They included Hartzell's parents and other family members, as well as a few off-duty Youngstown policemen.
During Monday's testimony, which focused primarily on the shooting of Rowe, Jennifer Fantone of Austintown said she'd seen Koliser stash his chrome-colored revolver in the hollowed-out pages of a copy of the Koran, which he kept on a shelf at his house.
The Koran is the sacred book of Muslims, who believe it contains the words of Allah dictated to the prophet Mohammed through an angel.
On the witness stand, Fantone opened the large, leather-bound book and showed jurors where the center of several pages had been gouged out deeply enough for the gun to fit inside and be concealed when the book was closed. There was no testimony to indicate that Koliser is a Muslim.
Their relationship
Fantone was one of seven witnesses called to testify for prosecutors Monday. She described herself as a close friend of Koliser's and said she had "hung out" with him daily for more than two months leading up to the April 29 shootings.
She sobbed as she told jurors how she'd stopped at an area gun shop and bought a box of .38-caliber bullets and a holster for Koliser, at his request.
Fantone said Koliser had previously lent her $40 to have her car repaired and she had called April 28 to tell him she had money to repay him. Koliser, knowing she was going to the gun shop anyway to buy Mace for herself, asked her instead to use the $40 for the bullets and holster, which she did.
"Nobody knew this was going to happen," Fantone said during cross-examination by defense attorney William J. Mooney of the Ohio Public Defender's Office.
Fantone and most of the other witnesses avoided eye contact with Koliser, who leaned back in his chair and glared at them.
Rowe also was on the witness stand Monday, telling jurors how he argued with Koliser inside and outside the Casaloma Gardens bar on Mahoning Avenue around 12:30 a.m. April 29.
Rowe, 23, of Youngstown, said he was on his way out of the bar to go home when he noticed Koliser talking with Frank Howley, a friend with whom Rowe had gone to the bar earlier that night. When Rowe asked Howley if everything was all right, an argument broke out between Rowe and Koliser.
What happened
Rowe said Koliser pulled a pistol from the waistband of his pants and pointed it at his stomach, forcing him to leave the bar. Once outside, the two argued again, with Koliser holding the gun at arm's length, pointed at Rowe's chest.
Howley, who also testified, told jurors that he stepped between the two and calmed them down. Koliser put the gun back in his waistband and reached out to shake hands with Rowe.
"I smacked his hand," Rowe told jurors. "He'd just pulled a gun on me. I ain't shakin' his hand."
He said that's when Koliser again pulled out the gun and pointed it at his chest.
"I said 'I ain't afraid of no gun. Do what you've got to do,'" Rowe said.
Koliser said, "Goodbye," and fired one shot into Rowe's chest, Rowe said.
Rowe and Howley each said that they'd been drinking beer before going to the bar that night and that they'd smoked a large marijuana cigarette together on the way to the bar. Each said they had several mixed drinks while they were at the bar before the shooting.
Among witnesses expected to testify today are three downtown taxi drivers who contend they saw Hartzell get shot while sitting in his cruiser on West Federal Street, about two hours after Rowe was shot.
Several police officers also are expected to testify today.