Andrew Goldstein
A weeping 24-year-old woman recounted yesterday how she shunned a bizarre-acting man in a Manhattan subway station in January and then watched in horror as he abruptly hurled another young woman in front of a speeding subway train.
Testifying between sobs at the murder trial of Andrew Goldstein, Dawn Lorenzino described how she grew nervous when the odd young man stood next to her. She snapped at him, ''What are you looking at?''
Minutes later, she said she watched as the man pushed another woman, Kendra Webdale, off the platform with such force that she flew into the air out over the subway tracks. It was an attack that was perfectly timed to coincide with the arrival of a train, Ms. Lorenzino said. She said Ms. Webdale seemed to hover in midair for an instant, with her arms and legs spread apart, ''exactly like a skydiver.''
Kendra Webdale and her killer, Andrew Goldstein
''She was flying through the air,'' Ms. Lorenzino said in a wrenching account that brought a juror and Ms. Webdale's family to tears. ''She didn't have a chance to scream. She had no idea what was happening.'' The testimony of Ms. Lorenzino, who said she was standing six feet from Ms. Webdale when she was pushed, came during the second day of Mr. Goldstein's trial for second degree murder in State Supreme Court in Manhattan. Her description of Mr. Goldstein's demeanor and actions could prove pivotal to jurors weighing whether Mr. Goldstein, a schizophrenic who has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, was sane at the time of the attack.
Her description of a calculated, timed attack could help the prosecution's argument that Mr. Goldstein was sane at the time. But her account of how strangely Mr. Goldstein was behaving could bolster the defense's argument that he was not.
Harvey Fishbein, Mr. Goldstein's defense lawyer, argued that Mr. Goldstein had stopped taking his antipsychotic medication and was legally insane at the time of the attack. He said Ms. Webdale's death was the result of a shoddy state mental health care system that shunted Mr. Goldstein, 30, in and out of institutions. Prosecutors contend Mr. Goldstein is using his mental illness as a shield and that Ms. Webdale's death was the culmination of anger he had toward women.
Assistant District Attorney William Greenbaum said in his opening statement on Thursday that Mr. Goldstein pushed Ms. Webdale, 32, onto the tracks because he was angry at Ms. Lorenzino for rebuffing him as they stood on the platform. He said Mr. Goldstein was eyeing the two blond women before the attack.
In her testimony, Ms. Lorenzino described how a mundane 10-minute wait for a subway train to her father's birthday party turned into an ordeal that progressed from unease to fear to abject horror. She said she entered the subway station of the N line at 23d Street in Manhattan at dusk on Jan. 3 just behind Mr. Goldstein and immediately noticed that he was acting strangely.
''I saw a man walking in front of me walking oddly,'' Ms. Lorenzino said.
She said Mr. Goldstein would take a few ''baby steps'' on his ''tip toes'' and then stumble. Mr. Goldstein then started walking normally, then paced furiously back and forth on the southern end of the platform. He mumbled to himself and eyed Ms. Lorenzino and Ms. Webdale, who was reading a magazine about six feet away from Ms. Lorenzino, each time he passed them. Mr. Goldstein's pacing was so intense that it prompted one man to cry out: '' 'Yo buddy, can you stop pacing? You're making us nervous,' '' Ms. Lorenzino said.
As the wait for a train dragged on, Mr. Goldstein walked up to Ms. Lorenzino and stood beside her, she said. ''I felt very uncomfortable that he was standing next to me,'' Ms. Lorenzino said. ''I said, 'What are you looking at?' Then he backed off as if he was frustrated. ''
Mr. Goldstein paced for a few more minutes, Ms. Lorenzino said, looked down the track as if checking for a train and then walked down the platform to Ms. Webdale. ''Do you have the time?'' he asked her. Ms. Webdale glanced at her watch and answered, ''a little after five,'' Ms. Lorenzino said. Mr. Goldstein then positioned himself against the wall behind Ms. Webdale, who returned to her magazine, Ms. Lorenzino said.
When the train sped into the station, she said, Mr. Goldstein ''darted'' off the wall and violently pushed Ms. Webdale. Ms. Lorenzino said she was struck by how well-planned the push seemed. It gave Ms. Webdale no time to escape.
''It was perfect,'' she said, referring to the timing. Ms. Webdale's body never hit the rails, she said, ''she just flew right under the train.''
Police Officer Raymond McLoughlin, who also testified yesterday, said he arrived at the station to find people shouting ''He's right here! He's right here!'' He found Mr. Goldstein, who made no effort to escape, sitting on the platform with his legs crossed, surrounded by 20 enraged people who were berating him, he said.
Another police officer cried out ''I see a leg!'' Officer McLoughlin said. Then, the officer testified, Mr. Goldstein looked at him, and at the train, and quietly said, ''I don't know the woman. I pushed her.''
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