Snapped: Women Who Murder - BONUS: Agofskys (Killer Siblings)

Episode Date: February 3, 2022

Residents of quiet Noel, Mo., are shocked when the local bank is robbed in a brazen nighttime heist; the investigation takes a sinister turn when the bank's president is found dead and a pair of brothers suddenly come into a lot of cash.Season 2, Episode 9Originally aired: January 2, 2021Watch full episodes of Killer Siblings on the Oxygen app: https://www.oxygen.com/killer-siblingsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wonder East Podcast American Scandal. Our newest series looks at the story of OxyContin, a popular painkiller that helps spur an epidemic of addiction and drug abuse, in which prompted a broad campaign to hold the pharmaceutical industry accountable. Listen to American Scandal on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. The bank at Noel had been robbed. There is no aggravated alarm. So potentially an inside job.

He banked president with missing, along with about 83,000 dollars. He could either be the victim or it involved in the theft of the money. I started to wish that he did rob the bank any scenario. It allows him to be alive. A body surface known the Grand Lake. We've had murders in this area before, but nothing on this magnitude. It's just for real, on the duct tape, we're three fingerprints. That was the significant development. Two brothers were bragging, The duct tape were three fingerprints. That was the significant development.

Two brothers were bragging about stealing a large amount of money. He really just wanted to make his brother proud. A lot more loyalty there than any other two men. Cold, blooded killers. Noa Missouri is a beautiful area in southwest Missouri. We're kind of in the middle of nowhere, but people are genuine and they're friendly. It's that typical small town feel that everybody knows everyone. So it's shocking what happened back in the fall of 1989.

I was notified to our dispatcher and the Sheriff's Department that the bank at Null had been robbed. The bank employees came to work and found the bank was already open. And there was money missing. When I arrived at the bank, it was obvious that things were in disarray. Inside the vault area, it was kind of a mess. The money had been taken. It's just protocol that if it's an FDIC bank, the FBI is going to become involved. I was at home,

had a call about eight o'clock in the morning from State Bank of Noelle. I went out of the bag, the local authorities were there and that's when I assumed control of the crime scene. The examination of the bank premises quickly revealed the fact that it was no forced entry. There was no activated alarm. There was an alarm system with an override on it.

If you knew the right code, you could override that alarm system. Possibly it was an inside job. The bank vault had certainly been ransacked. We know that on that particular day, they always got a shipment of money in, cash checks from the local poultry processing lab.

That money was missing. They had taken everything. The amount of the loss was about 83,000, including 34,000 and $100 bills. $4,000 was in coins. Over 300 pounds worth of coins. They required more than one person. Bank robbers don't typically take coins. That's what made this particular crime very unique.

We then set about examining the interior of the bank. The camera setup had been altered. The camera, the one and only camera, had been spray painted, the lens had been turned backwards to face the corner. We also found some spent cartridges on the floor. The camera had been shot twice. Two shots of a 45 caliber. It was strange that someone would go to that effort

to include firing two shots into it. It was an active bravado that indicated to me that this was amateurs. The examination of the bank revealed very little evidence of what happened. The camera was of no value. The two spent cases on the bank floor were of some value beyond that very little existed. A long about that time most banking employees were arriving including the vice president and the tellers. There were about six employees. There was one very noticeable person that was unaccounted for.

The bank president then short with missing. And we've tried to reach Dan by phone and no one can contact him. His bank has been broken into, his whereabouts are the county for it. And naturally, Mr. Short would have had keys to the bank. It was essential that we find Dan Short. In conversation with the bank vice president,

we learned that Dan Short was separated from his wife. He lived alone in a remote area in Arkansas. When we got to Mr. Shore's house, I walked in, he's not there. The house does not look like it's in disarray. We don't see any sign that anything's happened to him. We had found nothing in his house to indicate his whereabouts. He drove a little red, meaning he's got a pick up. And a pick up was gone. At this time, we had Arkansas and Missouri State troopers

who were responding to find Mr. Short's truck and hopefully to find Mr. Short. We began to interview all of Dan Short's associates, friends, even relatives determined if the bank president was involved with the assembly missing, he'd run away, did he have scorn. Dan Short had a good reputation in the community. He was a likable guy. It was a person that was just very popular.

The FBI wanted lots of background information about my dad. All that they said to me at that time was that the bank had been robbed robbed and that my father was missing. Things that you have to consider, if it's a potentially an inside job, what is their family situation? Where there are troubles at home, where there are troubles at work. In the time that I lived with my dad in 88, 89, he did seem to come home with more stress on his shoulders

from his business problems. I remember him having a lot more headaches and being a lot more fatigued. Maybe the last two years that he was banking in Nol just mentally and emotionally, you could see it in his eyes. The FDIC had found some things in the state bank of Null in the operations. They were out of compliance.

You don't want the feds to come in and tell you that they're not happy with you. They started coming to the state bank of Null more often, which put more of a burden on Dan Schort to comply with what they wanted done. There's no scenario that I can think of that would be bad enough, that he would ever break the law, and, and more importantly, that he would ever leave my brother and I,

wouldn't happen. Word spread very quickly in a community like this. You didn't have to put it on the radio or newspaper. It was word of mouth. Later, we get a call that a truck has been found and they think it belongs to Mr. Short. We respond there. McDonald County 5, McDonald County, I have the vehicle.

I'm top of Saratge Hill, simply bonzed. OK, she killed, don't let anybody near it. We ran the registration plate on the truck, and the truck was registered to Mr. Dan Short. We found a lot of coins laying in the floorboard. Coins were in rovers, so that money was obviously from the bank. That led us to believe that the truck had been involved

in hauling the bags of coins from the bank, at least to that location. A logical thing you do to leave your truck behind, switch to another vehicle, and make your getaway. The answer to this thing, the bank's been robbed, and somebody had had the keys to the front door to get away. Dan Sirrefsman saying the bike's been robbed and somebody had had the keys to the front door to get in. He could be the one who actually was involved in the theft of the money. We receive a call of money floating in Grand Lake.

Now we're dealing with a cap of crime. Whoever the perpetrators were, this is a pretty heinous crime. On October 6, 1989, the state bank of Noel had been robbed, cleaned out during the night. The bank president, Stan Short, was missing. We found his truck, left abandoned, and there were quite a number of loose coins in the bed of the truck. We're out looking everywhere for him.

We don't know if he's involved in the theft or not. During the afternoon of first day of investigation, we learned that earlier that morning, a neighbor of Dan Short reported to the Arkansas Police Department that she had seen an incident a night of the robbery. Around 2am, she was awakened by noise out front. She looked at her front window and saw two individuals on the ground wrestling. One got up, his hands restrained behind him, tried to run around the corner of the house, the other

individual tackled him, stopped him, and then a third individual arrived, and the two drug, the first individual bound, ties back to a vehicle. According to the neighbor, the bound individual, was Mr. Shore. She saw only vaguely the suspects and the vehicle described it as a van, two-cutter-ground van. Based on the information, we believe Dan Shore, who's kidnapped from his home, and he was forced to open up the safe.

It became clear to us that Dan Short was involuntarily involved. The question is, where is Den Short? That was our greatest concern that harm has come to Mr. Short. The FBI began to look through his credit card accounts, telephone calls, anything that might indicate his whereabouts. The Sheriff's Department had amounted Posse and we were just looking in an area along the highways and in the remote areas.

We were trying to find Mr. Short and identify possible perpetrators, and we began to look for people in the area who are spending money that had no known capability of having that kind of money, people who have the potential of commit such a crime. Jo Senior and Sheila Agoski got married in 65 and they settled down in rural Null, Missouri. They had their first son, Jo Junior, in 1965. Shannon followed in 1971 their second son. The father worked for some oil company, they were a more wealthy family in the town. So throughout the 1970s, life for the Gawski family

is actually pretty good. Unfortunately, on March 8, 1980, Joe Sr. was on a business trip to Mexico. The two engine plane crashed. Their father died in that plane crash. They acquired some type of settlement. Sheila is given a large sum of money and both boys are given money that is put into a trust that they can't access until they turn 21. Reporting to reports, they each received an assilumma. As much as $100,000.

In the meantime, Sheila Gowsky's settlement allowed them to be some of the more wealthy children in Ole Missouri who were able to purchase things and kind of do what they wanted. Joe was 14, so practically a young man and Shannon had just turned nine. Joe really became a father figure to Shannon and this was something that bonded them very closely together. In 1981, I opened the first martial arts school in Noel, Missouri. One of the first students that we had was Shannon Agofsky. He was nine years old.

After his father passed away, Shannon became very confrontational, even aggressive. His cockiness, his bravado, definitely surfaced. Chan and Nagasaki was one of our star students. He was very confident and outgoing. Joe, on the other hand, was a pretty quiet guy. Joe was the strong, silent one who was leading the way. He was not the kind of person who would tell you what was on his mind. He definitely didn't like confrontation.

He was more of a mechanic and liked to do mechanic work. Joe absolutely loved cars. He collected cars and liked to put them back together. In his early 20s, he had had a couple of those really nice sports cars. By the time that Joe is 23, he has already burned through all of the money that was given to him after his father's death. They went overboard on their spending. They weren't very wise on some of their choices. Shannon, who was 18 years old, has not been able to access his trust. Effectively, he was broke as well.

So, they turned to more insidious ways to try to finance their lifestyle. finance their lifestyle. They got involved in running stolen guns across state lines. Joe was the one who instigated these activities, but I think that Shannon was more than willing to participate. He was kind of a daredevil. He liked the thrill. And most of all, he really just wanted to make Joe proud. These young men were used to having money and needed to find a way to acquire more money.

So they devised a plan to acquire more wealth. During the first day of investigation, a neighbor reported having seen Dan Short abducted from his residence by two perpetrators. Now the theory is that most likely Dan Short had been taken to the bank and had been forced to assist them in gaining entry into the vault, but we still had to find the insure. We drove back roads, we looked at building, we did everything we could to find the insure. We concentrated on our search for four days just on trying to find where he might be. We developed no more information on a viable suspect than we had not found.

And sure. We couldn't find it. If he was alive, we couldn't find his body if he was dead. Days went by. I started to wish that the scenario was such that he did rob the bank and that he did take the money and that he did leave the country. You start to bargain with any scenario that allows him to be a body floating in Grand Lake.

This is Kate Winkler Dawson inviting you to the brand new season of my True Crime talk show. That's right. It's season three of Tenfold More Wicked Presents Wicked Words. I'm a true crime historian and author, and you might have heard my other podcasts on exactly right. Tenfold More Wicked and Buried Bones. On each new episode of Wicked Words, I interview other journalists, podcasters, and authors about the fascinating behind-the-scenes stories from their investigations in the world of true crime, many of which have never been shared before.

So join me in a new special guest each week for new episodes of Wicked Words, as we dive deep into the stories behind the stories. Wicked Words, Season 3, is available now on exactly right, with new episodes every Monday. Follow Tenfold War Wicked Presents W wicked words wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen early and add free on the Amazon Music or OneDriap. On October 11th, five days after the robbery abduction of Dan Short, robbery abduction of Dan Short. A body was observed having surfaced just off the cast scum bridge on the Grand Lake in Oklahoma. Tom Rhyde, we met with the reporting parties that discovered the body. They had actually test the body to their

boat and to the body and to the dock. And that's where we first came into contact with the body. With the recent disappearance of Dan Shore in the neighboring county, it did become relevant to us to contact the FBI almost instantly. When we arrived, several people were already there, including Sheriff Ark of Delaware County, Oklahoma. We got the body out of the water and got it up on the dock. The body was in bad shape, but we did find the driver's license for Mr. Short on the body. At that point, it was obvious that that was the body of the insurer. They had placed the body on the marine dwarf.

The wooden chair was attached to the body. He was wrapped in several different areas with great duct tape. He was taped around the chest. He was taped at the ankle. The tape to the ankle remained intact, which was also taped to the chair in apparatus. The tape across the chest broke, therefore the body was unattached from the chair except for the ankle.

Tape to the back of that chair was a concrete block. Tape to the bottom, and to some extent, two-down short was a old-fashioned chain horse. It was just a real apparent that these items were attached in it, it's attempt to weight the body down. Somebody took extreme measures to see that this body wasn't discovered. We made a decision there at the scene to sever what I call an apparatus, wouldn't share concrete block and chain hoist from the body so that the body could be taken to the examiners for the autopsy.

All that apparatus was flown back to the FBI Laboratory, Washington, D.C. for examination. When we recovered Dan Short's body, it was big news. A lot of TV stations were calling and coming wanting the interviews. Authorities found the body of bank president Dan Short floating in a northwest Oklahoma lake. I remember it being dark in our house and dark in our house and... Turing... Excuse me. Pfft.

Turing on the news. And... Splashed to cost the 10 o'clock news. Was the body removed from Grand Lake this afternoon? Is believed to be the body of the missing banker down short. And I just remember sitting on the couch thinking, this isn't real. This isn't real. And then the FBI walked through our front door.

My mom had told me if it's a phone call, it's good news. If they come in person, it's bad news. And I could tell from the look on their face that it was him. We've had murders in this area before, but nothing on this magnitude. The next day, the results came back from the medical examiner. There was no indication of a gunshot. The knife wound any other injury, so it's concluded that the cause of death was in fact drowning. The body had been in the water for some days, about five days,

which was consistent with the number of days since the robbery and the abduction. The finding of the body of Ben Short changed the complexity of the investigation from a robbery with a missing banker now to the robbery and a murdered banker. Now we're dealing with a capital crime, the chair and the center block and chain pull had been shipped back to the FBI laboratory was being carefully analyzed by fingerprint specialists. If we had fingerprints, being carefully analyzed by fingerprint specialists. If we had fingerprints, they can perhaps lead us to blue murdered Ben Short.

During the afternoon of October 11th, Ben Short's body was recovered in the lake, along with a wooden chair with a concrete block and a chain horse. Back to the FBI laboratory being carefully analyzed. There was no fingerprint of any quality. We didn't even develop a latent fingerprint. We had little or no forensic evidence at that point from the body or the chair apparatus. We're still at square one

A couple of days after we recovered Dan Short's body the command post got a call from a lady named Shirley Butler She reported Seeing something possibly connected with Dan Schorz murder. Shirley Butler reported that she had been driving to work around three o'clock in the morning. On the night of the robbery and murder and observed when approaching the Big Cowskin Bridge activity on the bridge, C.C. is the brown van parked on the bridge and it looked really suspicious. They were the activity at the rear of the van. And as she approached the activity ceased and the vehicle was left.

She didn't seem to bury you any indication of anything left behind on the bridge. She described a two-colored brown van, which matches the van, described by the neighborhood Dan Short as involved in the abduction. Of course, Mr. Short's body was found floating just to the side of the Cascam Bridge, what she saw was probably killing of Dan Short. Dan Short appeared to have been thrown off the bridge into the water where he subsequently

drowned and died. Whoever the perpetrators were, this is a pain he has cried. The photo was released of the chair to the news media. The authorities were looking for help in any way they could find it on any clues. During the next few days of the investigation, we identified numerous possible suspects, known bank robbers, convicted bank robbers, who all had the capability of committing such a crime. We conducted polygraph examinations in depth interviews. One by one, those were eliminated.

In a case like this, we had a tip line set up. We were still looking for clues. Sometimes you get to one that helps solve the case. We were getting hundreds of calls, but there was a mom's phone call about Nagasaki brothers. They call a claim that two brothers in Nol, Joe and Shannon Nagasaki,

were bragging about stealing a large amount of coins in a recent crime. The Nagasaki brothers had never been in any trouble with the law. They were little kids. They grew up here. We went out to where they lived, and we're brought in. And of course, was interviewed by the FBI. Joe's in his early 20s, Shannon was 18 years old.

Joe the older of the two was quieter, certainly more reserved. Shannon, on the other hand, seemed to be very cocky, very assured of himself. Both Agaski brothers were cooperative, both denied any involvement, our knowledge of the bank robbery and murdered Dan Short. Joe's alibi was that he was in Joplin, Missouri our knowledge of the bank robbery and murder down short. Joe's alibi was that he was in Joplin, Missouri,

with his girlfriend on the night of the abduction and murder, and could therefore have had no part in it. Shannon stated he was at home with his mother. Both appeared to be telling the truth. There was no evidence linking them to anything, so we had to let them go. At that point, there still no other suspects developed. No other evidence had developed on any other person.

I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure.

I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. down Dan Short. Nothing like that ever happens around here. A few days after they had found the body, I take the kid's vision. My son and I were walking the bank and we came up on this piece of tape.

There was a piece of duct tape. And I had a stick and I pick it up. And I look at it and I do see three fingerprints on it. Called the authorities and the FBI showed up. We took custody of the duct tape that was recovered from the shoreline in the vicinity of the Cowskin Bridge. We observe three rusty, greasy, residue fingerprints. Very evident, full prints. Lidel and I look at each other, and our eyes get big, and it's like, is this for real?

I turned a agent, Jim Edwards, and I said, Jimmy, it's too two-good-me-true. On October 13th, some duct tape was recovered by an individual who lived on the lake near where Van Short's body surfaced. On the duct tape, we were three fingerprints. At that point, we had no idea if we could prove that tape came from the chair, then short the body was attached to, but it was a major development. We shipped the tape with the fingerprints back to the FBI laboratory to the same group of examiners who were looking at the chair.

We had no idea at that point whose fingerprints those were, but there were no value unless that tape was connected to the apparatus tape. When you tear a piece of duct tape, you're gonna have two ends that obviously go back together perfectly. After analysis of all the pieces we received word that the tape found by Routing Form and was matched to the tape that remained on the chair.

That was a significant development. Our task at that point was to find the suspect who left those fingerprints on the tape. on tape. 1989 we did have a fingerprint database but the fingerprints were not contained within the FBI database. So we knew we were dealing most likely with a non-fellon, a non-criminal record suspect so to speak which matched with the original theory that this was amateurs. We didn't have the names of individuals to focus on, but we were hoping to generate potential leads. During the investigation, we had disseminated the picture of the chair of the print in TV media.

After several months of the investigation, we received a report from individual in MacDonald County named Wayne Boutain. Wayne came in voluntarily and said that he believed that Chain horse belonged to him. In interviewing Wayne Boutain, he described the chain horse to include certain identified marks on it and broken parts. Wayne viewed pictures of it and made a positive identification of the chain horse. Wayne sent it to the left at the chain horse. Wayne said he had left that chain horse at the

residence in Nour that he was reigning. He had moved out shortly before the bank robbery. After two or three days from moving he went back to retrieve his chain horse and found it was gone. That property was owned by Sheila Gowsky and her son, Shannon Gowsky. The name of Gowsky came up again. So now we're back to the Gowskies who we had previously interviewed. Both were interviewed a second time, both denied any involvement, you had again. So, we looked again at the Agaski brothers, the Alibis. Joe Agaski, his Alibi was that he was with his girlfriend in Joplin the night of the crime.

However, based on a review of phone records that were available, revealed that he wasn't, he was had his residence in Nol. So that pretty much discredited his alibi. The question, Luke, why would these two brothers have anything to do with the robbery of the state bank of Nol? or the killing of Dan Short. From several people in MacDonald County it was reported that Shannon Bragged, that he was the richest 18 year old in MacDonald County. They had had money,

and then all of a sudden they don't got it. People used to have money. The Agaski brothers were short cash. So therefore, you would wonder if money the motive. The financial aspect became a key part of the investigation. History, as it in tradition is at bank robbers, don't take money to hide and to put in a fruit jar. They spend it. Through interviews and investigation, we determined that Joe Agaski was spending a large amount

of money. Since October 6th, Joe had spent about $24,000 in cash almost all $100 bills when he had no known source of income. The money taken from the bank included 34,000 and $100 bills. Very suspicious. At that point, we felt that it would be extremely prudent to get the fingerprints of both Shannon and Joseph Agoski for comparison to the fingerprints that were found on the tape. I went to Joe, asked if he would voluntarily have his fingerprints taken. Any

voluntarily did. Joe Agoski's fingerprints sent back to the FBI laboratory. Shannon, on the other hand, was very elusive and would not provide his fingerprints. As an FBI agent, we had an authority to force him, you see, the Von Terley, our court order. There was no art evidence linking them to anything at that point. So we've been given a court order. A few days later, I received a call from the fingerprint examiner who notified me that the fingerprints of Joe were almost identical to those on the duct tape but were not identical. He also told me that siblings often have very similar fingerprint patterns. More than likely, the fingerprints

could belong to a relative of Joseph Agoski. So we now need to go get Shannon Agoski's fingerprints. It's March of 1990, five months after the robbery of the state bank of Noel in the killing of Dan Shore. We had fingerprints. The fingerprint analyst discovered striking similarities between Joseph Fagoski's fingerprints in those on the tape that was found by Rally Forman. Because of those similarities, the fingerprints may be belong to relative of Joseph Agaski. With the fingerprints of Joe Agaski, an all-most match.

The Federal Grand jury issued a subpoena to obtain Shannon's fingerprints involuntarily. Shannon Agaski's fingerprints were sent back to the FBI laboratory for analysis. Shannon's fingerprints were identified on the tape. And that obviously is a very crucial part of the evidence, the fingerprints of Shannon Gasky, which really is the smoking gun in this case. The agasquis were indicted by federal grand jury for conspiracy, for use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and aggravated bank robbery. And under the federal bank robbery statute,

the death of a bank president meant they could receive the death penalty. The investigation revealed it. Shannon was talking about moving to South America. So that led us to move expeditiously to prevent them from fleeing. Joe Agaski had a job, had a chicken hatchery myself, and another agent traveled to his workplace,

pulled him out to the lobby, and told him he was under arrest. Joe went willingly. Shannon was arrested in Roger's Arkansas. And he wasn't brought back to Springfield in the federal custody to await trial. After the Agaski brothers were arrested and behind bars, people could rest at night a little bit better, knowing that someone has been charged with this crime.

Joe and Shannon Agaski never made a confession, either written or oral confession, to any law enforcement that they actually committed these crimes. We all were able to put these pieces of evidence all together to determine what actually happened. Bank records show that Joe Agoski rented a safe deposit box at the state bank of Null, not long before the crime. The suspects knew Dan Short. They knew where he lived. This was very well thought out. What transpired on the night of October 6th, 1989.

The picture that we were able to obtain is that Dan Short, president of the State Bank of Null, was kidnapped by Shannon and Joe Agaske from his residence near Sulphur Springs, Arkansas. He was forcibly taken to the bank in Nolmazarian. They took his truck so they could park it out there in front of the bank and people would think that he was in there working. At that point, they used Dan Short to acquire access to the bank. Dan Short was forced to access to the bank. Dan Short was forced to open up the bank vault from which over $8,000 was taken. They abandoned Dan Short's truck west of Noelle. Then Joe and Shandagowski drove across the state line

into Oklahoma, where they tied Mr. Short to a chair with a chain hoist in a center block, and threw him over the railing of Kowskian Bridge. The The The The The The The The The The The The The

Neither of the gasky brothers ever incriminated the other one or himself never made it a thing. Blood Blood Blood Blood Blood Blood Blood Blood Blood A lot more law of here there than any other two men.

Collective decision has made that Yagaski brothers would be tried federally in the state of Missouri. The physical evidence from the fingerprints on the tape was very crucial evidence in the federal trial. Joanne Channadegowski, who were found guilty of the federal charges, conspiracy, aggravated bank robbery, and used so-and-so fire him in the commission of a felony. They were both sentenced to life in prison, plus five years. When the verdict was reached in the federal trial, I was there.

It was an amazing feeling because for the first time, I knew justice was beginning to be served for the death of my father. Knowing that he was tossed off of that bridge, still alive, to drown in that lake without the ability to even move in that chair, tragic of him. When I hear the words of Gossky Brothers, I think of cold, blooded killers. The most heinous crime that I ever reported upon. We had a bench built in the cemetery where my dad is buried to give our family a place

to remember him. And the quote reads, love is how you stay alive even after you're gone. And that death ends life. It does not end relationship. There will be situations, occasions, narrow escapes. All of those cool things that spontaneously happen in life and my boys and I have adopted that, and we've called them Grandpa Dan Moments.

Meaning that he's looking down and lending a hand for the big and the small stuff as often as he can.