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Man beaten to death with barbell in San Francisco gym

Kenneth Osako was arrested Thursday after beating a man to death with a barbell.

By Fred Lambert

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- A plumber working out in a Northern California gym suddenly bludgeoned another man to death with a barbell, police said.

Officers responded to a report of assault Wednesday around 9:30 p.m. at a Bally Total Fitness on El Camino Real in South San Francisco. Witnesses told police that Kenneth Osako, 46, repeatedly struck another gym-goer in the head with a steel barbell used for lifting weights. He then dropped the bar and left the scene.

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The victim, 43-year-old butcher Diego Galindo of San Bruno, was rushed to San Francisco General Hospital but later died.

South San Francisco Police Department spokesman Sgt. Tom Neary told KTVU that it was likely a crime of opportunity, "because the weapon was easily accessible to the suspect."

"This is a situation where two people... had differences and it escalated to an act of violence. And unfortunately that act of violence resulted in someone's death," Neary said.

Osako, who is reportedly a plumber from the South San Francisco area, was arrested Thursday morning by local police and an agent from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He was booked into the San Mateo County jail under suspicion of murder.

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One of Osako's five daughters apologized to Galindo's family on Friday, KTVU reports.

"I know he's sorry and I know he didn't want this to happen. It's really hard," Kealani Osako said, adding that her father suffers from bipolar disorder, depression, anger issues and blackouts.

"Especially in the gym, that's the worst time to get my dad angry, because when he's in the gym, he takes it very seriously. Totally zones out," she said before speculating that the altercation might have occurred because Galindo allegedly tried to get Osako's girlfriend to leave the gym with him.

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