Complex sentence: On Halloween night, 1920, Mrs. Spracklin narrowly escaped death when the Spracklins' manse was sprayed with bullets, presumably on the behalf of persons in the illicit liquor trade disadvantaged by Spracklin and his men.
Split into simpler sentences: On Halloween night, 1920, Mrs. Spracklin narrowly escaped death when the Spracklins' manse was sprayed with bullets. It was assumed that this incident was perpetrated on the behalf of persons in the illicit liquor trade disadvantaged by Spracklin and his men.