MARTIN L. KOLISER JR. The day a cop died

APRIL 29
12:15 a.m.: Koliser gets into an argument with Donell J. Rowe outside the Casaloma, a bar at 2843 Mahoning Ave. One witness said someone called Koliser a bitch. Koliser shoots Rowe in the chest. Rowe, 25, of Youngstown, survives.
Koliser runs and meets one street away with a friend, Frank R. Howley, 24, who is driving a 1984 black and gray Lincoln Town Car. Howley allows Koliser to drive off in the Lincoln. Howley then drives Koliser's 1991 green Chevrolet Corsica to a house on Donald Avenue.
Police, including Hartzell, investigate the bar shooting and get a description of the Lincoln and the first name of the suspect -- "Marty." Hartzell follows up at St. Elizabeth Health Center, speaking to Rowe's friends.
2:19 a.m.: Koliser and Hartzell both end up at the red light at West Federal Street and Vindicator Square, just two blocks from the police station on Boardman Street. Hartzell calls in to check the license plate of the Lincoln. He doesn't activate the cruiser's overhead lights or siren.
Nearby, Independent Taxi drivers and the dispatcher see the man in the Lincoln, later identified as Koliser, rush to the cruiser and shoot Hartzell in the head. The cruiser slips into gear and drifts into the Lincoln, before the Lincoln speeds off.
Koliser abandons the Lincoln in a lot at Rayen and North avenues.
Koliser makes his way to the Mahoning River, in the area of B.J. Alan Fireworks, and hides in the mud, mindful that police dogs are searching for him. He finds clothes belonging to a homeless man and puts them on.
5:10 a.m.: The Lincoln is found by police. The car is actually Howley's, even though the registration comes back to a Poland man. The car had been sold twice in a short period of time.
5:30 a.m.: Police find the Chevrolet Corsica at the house on Donald Avenue and have it towed with a hold for detectives. The car is registered to Martin L. Koliser, 2373 Innwood Drive, Austintown. The address is Koliser's father's home.
Howley and another man are found laying in the Donald Avenue garage, trying to hide near the Corsica. Howley tells police that "Marty" shot the guy at the Casaloma and shot the patrolman. Howley gives police the name Martin Higginbotham.
Information developed by police results in a check through the Law Enforcement Automated Data System, which gives police Koliser's driver's license photo. The photo is then distributed to aid police in their manhunt.
At daylight, Koliser makes his way to the WRTA bus station and calls Forrest A. Rupp Jr., 25, for a ride. Rupp knew Koliser in prison; both were paroled in December 2002.
A court-ordered search is conducted at a Shields Road apartment, where police find mail in Koliser's name. As a parolee, Koliser had to give his current address to his parole officer.
Associates, friends and family of Koliser are tracked down and interviewed.
Rupp and Koliser go to Koliser's girlfriend's apartment at Compass West in Austintown, but she's not home. Rupp's sister, Lisa Ferguson, 32, also lived at Compass West.
Rupp and Koliser go to a house on Oakwood Avenue., where Koliser showers and changes clothes.
8:35 a.m.: Koliser calls John Rizzotto, 45, in Clearwater, Fla., to say that he is on his way south. Rizzotto, a Cadillac salesman, was engaged to Ferguson.
11:55 a.m.: Rupp reports his girlfriend's car, a 1990 black Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais, stolen. He tells police that, earlier that morning, he picked Koliser up at the WRTA bus station downtown and said Koliser drove off in the Olds from a gas station. Rupp later admits that the car wasn't taken from the gas station but that Koliser drove it off alone.
1:45 p.m.: Based on information from Rupp, police search the Oakwood Avenue house. The resident tells police that Rupp and Koliser had been there about 7:30 a.m. Police collect from the trash jeans, socks, a gray shirt and baseball cap. They also take a pair of size 101/2 white Nike shoes, dirty and wet, that Rupp said Koliser had been wearing.
Throughout the remainder of the day, Rizzotto is in touch with law enforcement in Florida, including the FBI, and Ferguson has law enforcement at her apartment. Police credit Rizzotto and Ferguson for the eventual capture of Koliser.
APRIL 30:
6 p.m.: Koliser, driving the 1990 black Calais, finally makes it to Florida and meets Rizzotto outside a restaurant. Rizzotto pays for a nonsmoking room at the Knight's Inn in Palm Harbor, Fla., which gives him an excuse to keep the door open while they both smoke.
Unknown to Koliser, a 50-member SWAT team surrounds the motel.
Inside the motel room, Koliser confesses shooting the man at the bar and the police officer, Rizzotto said.
As an excuse to leave alone, Rizzotto tells Koliser that he has to walk his dogs and needs to change clothes. He offers to get Koliser $200 from an ATM, clothes and a big hunting knife. Koliser had wanted a gun.
10:10 p.m.: With Rizzotto gone, police call Koliser's room and tell him to look outside, where an armored carrier called the Peacemaker is parked. Koliser surrenders and is taken to the Pinellas County jail.
MAY 8
A Mahoning County grand jury indicts Koliser.
MAY 15
Howley, Rupp, Jonathan A. Kuzan and Lemar Butler are arrested, all charged with obstructing justice. Police said they hampered the search for Koliser.
OCT. 30
Koliser is found guilty in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court of killing Hartzell and trying to kill Rowe.
"Attention all cars, we have a unanimous guilty verdict on all counts." The message is broadcast at 2:48 p.m. by a Youngstown Police Department radio dispatcher and repeated at 2:49 p.m.
NOV. 5
Koliser stands with his hands in his pants pockets, smiling broadly, as his death sentence was pronounced. "Thank you," he tells the jury that decided he should die by lethal injection.
NOV. 7
Koliser is admitted to death row.
MAY 7, 2005:
Koliser takes his life.