On the evening of April 12, 1938, Bertal Thingstead, John Kulka and their compatriots attempted another in a series of robberies that had targeted six other either quietly or explicitly queer clubs in the Village. Summoned by a bartender, who’d slid under the bar to escapte the bandits’ notice, police patrolmen broke through the basement door glass’ of 40 West 3rd Street (now an NYU building) and interrupted the holdup in progress. One of the patrolmen, Humbert Moruzzi, died several days later after being shot during the course of the evening’s events.

During the robbery, one Miss Norma DeMarco, previously of the Bronx but currently living with her girlfriend Dorothy at 134 W 58th Street, was struck in the head by Bertal Thingstead (A.K.A. Carson). The city’s assistant medical examiner announced at a press conference that Norma's head trauma likely contributed to her suicide the next day.

Eventually, over 15 people would be nosed out and charged with conspiracy or contribution to the club robbery (it was, to some extent, as the press claimed: an inside job). Thingstead and Kulka were executed via the electric chair February 15, 1940 for the murder of Patrolman Morruzi. Miss de Marco’s death was curiously never addressed, — likely due to social beliefs at the time that it was more likely that her suicide was due to a life of degeneracy, rather than the swelling brain injury she had incurred. 

Norma’s family life seems to have been fraught. One of over 13 children born to her mother, father and stepfather, Norma had a tumultuous and likely traumatic childhood. Prior to meeting her girlfriend, Dorothy LaMarr (likely her mother’s maiden name), Norma was living in a tiny Bronx apartment with her older sister Bessie, Bessie’s husband Sal de Francesco, and their new baby. Hints of family strife echo in a desperate attempt at suicide three months’ prior to April, where Norma attempted to throw herself from a small, third story window at her sister’s apartment, at 599 Morris Avenue in the Bronx.

Further clues at the familial relationship are found in Norma’s death certificate, where we learn that her body was identified by her brother in law, and funeral arrangements made by her sister. Not at a family church or parish, but at the Gambale Funeral Parlor across the street from their apartment build. Her mother, stepfather and father (who lived in Rochester at the time) are nowhere to be found. Pictures of the funeral show a curious community in attendance, but no evidence of family involvement other than her sister and brother in law.

A Borough of Manhattan death certificate for Norma DeMarco reads:

Female, white, single

Age: 20

Trade: hat check girl

Total time in the occupation: 3 months

Birthplace: USA

How long in U.S.?: life

How long resident in New York?: life

Father: Joseph DeMarco

Birthplace: Italy

Mother: Margaret Pecora

Birthplace: Italy

Date of death: April 13, 1938

Cause of death: crushed chest, fractured pelvis, laceration of lungs, liver and spleen, shock. Said to have jumped from 12th story window 138 W. 58th St.

Medical examiner’s report: Suicide, likely due to fracture incurred during the robbery

Date of injury: April 13, 1938. Injured at 138 W. 58th St., Manhattan at residence of friend.

How did injury occur?: Said to have jumped from 12th story window.