at will. Distrusts among even his own parishioners It was also claimed that Spracklin showed excessive zeal, and that this demonstration of zeal extended to his treatment of his own parishioners. 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. Pastor's wife escapes spray of bullets On Halloween night, 1920, Spracklin's wife Myrle Welsh narrowly escaped death when the Spracklins' manse was sprayed with bullets from an unproven source. 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. It subsequently proved to be pivotal but somewhat obscure to establish whether this traumatic event led to later actions on the part of her husband. Manslaughter charge and trial On November 6, 1920, Spracklin, as part of Ontario Attorney-General Raney's Prohibition enforcement team, shot and killed Beverly Trumble, proprietor of the Chappell House hotel, who was engaged in illicit trade in liquor, and in whose hand Spracklin later claimed to have seen a gun. 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. Acquittal At his subsequent trial, Spracklin was acquitted of manslaughter. The transparency of the process by which Spracklin's acquittal emerged was evidently called into question by some, since this verdict was met with considerable surprise in some quarters. Widespread comment evoked by Spracklin's fate Much discussion and comment ensued following Spracklin's trial and acquittal. 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. Varying opinions asserted The tenor of one historical account is suggestive that Spracklin should have been charged with murder rather than of the manslaughter of which he was eventually acquitted. Other descriptions seek to stress that the evidence should be interpreted as indicating that Spracklin acted in self-defence. Later life A more distant relationship between Spracklin and the Hallams emerged. In 1921 Spracklin relinquished his pastoral charge at Sandwich Methodist Church. Spracklin's resignation appears to have occurred without another parish charge having been made available to him, and with