[sumo] Tokitsukaze Developments

[Lon Howard]

On Jan 3, 2008, at 10:48 AM, Jack Gartin wrote:

> A progress report, sort of, on the death of Takashi Saito.
>
> Tamagoyama
>
> Investigators closer to arrest in death of novice wrestler
>
> 01/03/2008
> THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
>
> Police building a criminal case against a former sumo stablemaster  
> for his
> alleged involvement in the beating death last June of a novice  
> wrestler have
> documented a likely history of excessive violence against the victim.
>
> (snip)
>
> Tests by specialists at Nagoya University found fatal levels of  
> potassium in
> Saito's blood.
>
> Potassium is often found in muscle. But it can be released in higher
> quantities into the blood when the body is struck, resulting in  
> bruising or
> worse.
>
> If the level of potassium in the blood becomes too high, it can  
> lead to
> cardiac arrest.
>
> Police investigators believe that Saito was beaten over a long  
> period before
> he died because it takes time for fatal levels of potassium to  
> accumulate in
> the bloodstream.
>
> Saito collapsed on June 26 after sumo practice and was taken to a  
> hospital
> where a blood sample was taken.
>
> The serum potassium value at that time was 7.3. A healthy  
> individual has a
> value of between 3.5 and 5.
>
> When the serum potassium value exceeds 7, there is the possibility of
> irregular heartbeat or cardiac arrest.
>
> Higher than normal levels of the enzyme creatine kinase were also  
> detected.
> The enzyme appears in the blood when muscle has been destroyed.
>
> The various tests pointed to Saito having suffered from  
> hyperkalemia, an
> elevated blood level of the potassium electrolyte.
>
> According to experts of external injury, hyperkalemia is often  
> found in
> individuals who, for example, fall from buildings, but suffer  
> little in the
> way of blood loss.
>
> Repeated beatings could also lead to hyperkalemia, sources said.


Maybe someone can explain this, but this seems very much out of the  
ordinary for such detail involving the collection of evidence to  
appear in a newspaper - especially in such a 'closed' society as  
Japan.  In my lifetime, I must have seen hundreds of newspaper  
stories about criminal cases involving beating deaths in the U.S.,  
and I don't think I've ever seen anything about potassium, creatine  
kinase, hyperkalemia, etc. in any of these reports.  Of course,  
medical examiners report on these things during trials and in other  
venues, but in a newspaper - that's astounding, at least at first  
blush.  I've thought of several legal maneuvers that might be  
involved, but as I'm not schooled in legal subjects, I'll just keep  
them to myself.  I was just very surprised to see this in a major  
newspaper...or was this just in the online version?

Lon Howard
Shomishuu