You could stall the starter on the gear without putting a fracturing load on the casing though. Even if the bearing in the nose seized and stalled it, that wouldn't break the end off.
I think that day it wouldn't start was when the crack finally let go, the nose broke off, and it twisted the bearing such that the spindle couldn't turn. The stalled starter took enough current to fry the insulation, but when you let off the key it un-jammed itself. Possibly the broken piece fell off at that point and then it was able to start. The bearing does still turn now, although it is slightly distorted.
The starter came out without that piece attached at all - it was just sitting in the gearbox bellhousing, so it fell off through action of the starter at some point. Its pretty hard to tell where anything started though as its been bashed around by the flywheel.
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