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Josh Missiledine's murder is now being explored in season 4, episode 8 of Murder Under Friday Night Lights. The episode aired on March 5, 2025, with the story of how 18-year-old Josh Missiledine was found murdered in a vacant trailer, and investigations revealed that the killing was motivated by a drug-related issue.
The entire case and the investigation that followed are covered in detail in this episode titled Nothing to Cheer About. It features insightful interviews with Josh’s family and loved ones who were devastated by his tragic death, and also law enforcement authorities who were looking into the case.
5 key details about Josh Missiledine's murder
Here are 5 chilling details from the murder of Josh Missiledine
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1) Josh Missiledine was part of a male cheerleading squad
Born and brought up in the Gulf Coast, Josh Missiledine attended Harrison Central High School, where he was an integral part of the male cheerleading squad. However, one night in late November 2001, the 18-year-old did not return home. On November 30, he was reported missing by his parents, and investigations led to Josh’s abandoned car in the downtown area of Gulfport.
It was only when investigators received a tip from a caller that led them inside a trailer in the 17000 block of Fountain Street, off Highway 53, that Josh was located, but he was dead. An autopsy revealed that he died of severe head injuries caused by blunt force trauma.
2) Two suspects were located
An investigation into the matter led detectives to Germaine Strickland and Christopher Shields. When they were questioned, they had a different version of the story about what happened to Josh Missiledine. According to The Cinemaholic, they both claimed that they had met at the abandoned trailer on November 30, 2001, but each suspect accused the other of murdering Josh.
3) Two versions of the same story
The Cinemaholic states that, according to Christopher Shields, the three of them had planned to meet at the trailer to drink and smoke weed, but things got out of hand as Germaine and Josh got into a heated argument over drug money. An altercation led to Josh suffering severe injuries, but at that time, they couldn’t tell if his condition was critical and could lead to death.
Germaine Strickland, on the other hand, told the detectives that he had met Josh for the first time at the Harrison County Courthouse that night, with Christopher present. According to him, the trio drove to the trailer off Highway 53, where he saw Christopher hit Josh with a wooden stick.
4) Germaine Strickland and Christopher Shields were arrested in the case of Josh's murder
Investigators concluded from the two different accounts that both the suspects met with Josh to get drugs from him and also steal his car stereo to get more money for drugs.
The Cinemaholic reports that in the first week of December 2001, 30-year-old Christopher Shields was arrested and charged with the murder of Josh Missiledine, and a week later, 30-year-old Germaine Strickland was charged with capital murder and taken into custody on a $5 million bond.
5) What happened after the arrest?
In the months that followed, defense attorneys of Christopher Shields and Germaine Strickland tried to get their bonds lowered. Germain’s attorney appealed to the circuit court claiming that there was no physical evidence linking either of the accused to the murder, and in March 2002, Germaine’s bond was reduced to $10,000, and he managed to bail out, says The Cinemaholic.
In January 2004, Christopher pleaded guilty to manslaughter and testified that it was not his intention to kill Josh Missiledine. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murder, an additional five years for a 2001 burglary case, and two more years for two 1992 robberies.
As per The Cinemaholic, Christopher is scheduled to be released from prison in November 2026, while Germaine, who managed to walk free in 2002, leads a private life.
Catch tonight's episode of Murder Under Friday Night Lights.
