The madman who pushed a young woman to her death in front of a subway train is a schizophrenic who spent his entire adult life being shuffled in and out of mental hospitals, cops said yesterday.
Andrew Goldstein, 29, was ordered held without bail under a suicide watch after he was arraigned for the murder of 32-year-old Kendra Webdale.
He’s been a mental patient in at least four hospitals and treated at two outpatient facilities, authorities said. Doctors released him only two months ago from his latest hospital commitment, his roommate told The Post.
All of the hospitals refused to comment.
Cops said Goldstein confessed to pushing Webdale in front of an oncoming uptown N train as it roared into the 23rd Street station at about 5:15 p.m. Sunday – because he “just had the urge to push her.”
A portrait emerged of Goldstein as a once-promising student at an elite high school who – beginning in his early 20s – plunged into the depths of mental illness.
“He’s very disturbed. I can say that he has a history of schizophrenia,” said Goldstein’s court-appointed lawyer, Kevin Canfield.
“Obviously we have to look into that to see if he is fit to go forward at all.”
Canfield said Goldstein, who lives with two roommates on 149th Street in Howard Beach, Queens, is taking medication for his condition and “he has been under a doctor’s care for some time.”
He said Goldstein “seems to be lucid enough to answer some questions.”
Police said the accused killer was fully coherent when they questioned him after the grisly crime.
Goldstein told cops he spent Sunday wandering around Manhattan, stopping at a Dunkin’ Donuts shop in Midtown, a McDonald’s, and browsing at the Virgin Records store at Union Square.
He boarded a train at Union Square and traveled uptown to 23rd Street, where he got off and approached Webdale, a record-company receptionist, on the platform.
Webdale, who lived on 23rd Street, was on her way to visit her sister.
Goldstein told cops he asked her the time, she told him, and then he walked behind her and pushed her, sources said.
Police said Goldstein claimed he didn’t think he pushed her very hard, and he was shocked when she fell on the tracks.
Cops said he showed no remorse, telling investigators he acted on an “urge.”
Webdale fell onto the tracks and was decapitated as three cars rolled over her body.
The stunned motorman jumped out of the train and confronted Goldstein, who cops said stood coolly by, making no attempt to run.
A witness raced to the street and found a police officer who nabbed Goldstein on the spot.
Assistant District Attorney William Greenbaum said three people saw Goldstein kill the young woman.
Greenbaum said Goldstein gave police videotaped and written confessions in which “he admits pushing the victim.”
Goldstein said nothing in his brief court appearance. He was dressed in a worn black leather jacket and loose khakis, staring blankly ahead or shooting quick glances at his lawyer.
In stark contrast, Goldstein’s teen-age years had been promising. He was bright enough to attend the prestigious Bronx High School of Science, graduating in 1987, school officials said.
But just two years later the gifted student was hospitalized for the first time with signs of schizophrenia.
He was committed to Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, a huge state-run facility in Queens Village, in August 1989, police said.
After his release he was treated at Creedmoor’s Clearview outpatient clinic until Sept. 1992, when he was again committed for two weeks and released, cops said.
He landed back in Creedmoor that December, and remained until November 1994, police said.
When he got out again he went to live at the Leben Adult Home in Elmhurst, staying until September 1996.
Sources told The Post that Goldstein has also been treated at Elmhurst Hospital, Jamaica Hospital and Flushing Hospital – but the dates were not immediately known.
This year Goldstein began getting psychiatric help at the private Bleuler Psychotherapy Clinic on Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills, police said.
Doctors at Bleuler did not return calls. The state Department of Mental Health refused to give details about Goldstein’s history at Creedmoor because of privacy laws. The other hospitals also refused to comment.
Friends said Goldstein was a troubled, quiet, loner – but they were stunned by his alleged turn to violence.
“He wasn’t all there. He got out of the hospital two months ago,” said John Olson, one of two men who shared a basement apartment with Goldstein.
“He saw his parents maybe once a month. His parents told him not to come around so much.
“He was a nice guy. A normal guy. He didn’t bother anyone,” Olson said.
“We were really shocked when we saw his name on TV,” Olson said. “I never thought he’d do something like that.”
Friends said Goldstein’s parents were divorced. His mother lives in Queens and his father lives in Delaware, police said.
Law-enforcement sources said Goldstein had one other brush with the law.
On Dec. 14, 1997, he was charged with assault for knocking a woman into a bookcase and injuring her eye at a Barnes & Noble book store in Forest Hills, Queens.
But investigators learned Goldstein was being harassed by a group of kids, and as he ran to get away from them, he crashed into the woman. The charges were dismissed and the case was sealed, the sources said.