[2] Spracklin shot and killed a man who was engaged in the illicit liquor trade and was later acquitted of manslaughter, after which experience he decided to emigrate to the United States.
A Windsor, Ontario lawyer claimed that Spracklin's men, allegedly exceeding their proper duty, would arbitrarily fill in blank search warrants at will.
The attention of these Spracklin would engage while preaching in the interior of Sandwich Methodist Church; meanwhile, in the parking area outside the building, his uninhibited enforcement associates would surreptitiously search his parishioners' cars at random.
At the time it was assumed that this violent incident was perpetrated on the behalf of persons in the illicit liquor trade disadvantaged by Spracklin and his men; this assumption was never seriously questioned.
However, any direct linkage between the occurrence of this violent death only a few days after Myrle's alarming experience on Halloween Night remained unclear.
The fact that historical records of Spracklin's actions on November 6, 1920 differ in emphasis underlines the controversy which arose from the series of events leading to his acquittal.
Spracklin's vigorously vocal ministry at least superficially resembles that of J. Frank Norris, of Fort Worth, Tx, who also maintained an itinerant pastoral charge in Detroit, Michigan.
Norris, whose vigorous political views exercised a deep influence upon his seminary student John Birch and others, later undertook a wide, public ministry; however, the reputation of Spracklin never eclipsed the events of 1920.