A Hernando County murder case that started as a missing-person report has now landed one local man in prison for life and taken the death penalty off the table for his wife, according to court records and law enforcement officials.
On Friday, a Hernando County judge sentenced 38-year-old Duane David Sclesky to life in prison after he entered a no-contest plea in one of two homicides uncovered during a 2024 investigation. The victims, Jamie Macdonald and Kenneth Zickendrath, were found in separate locations in Hernando and Citrus counties after Macdonald was reported missing in May 2024.
In a media release posted to Facebook, the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office said Sclesky pleaded no contest to the murder of 68-year-old Zickendrath and was given two concurrent life sentences by Judge Daniel Merritt Jr. The same release noted that Sclesky’s wife, 32-year-old Luequita Sclesky, reached a negotiated plea that removes the death-penalty option, though felony charges against her are still pending. Deputies laid out the key evidence and Friday’s courtroom developments in that public statement, according to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office.
How the probe turned up two bodies
Macdonald’s family reported her missing to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office on May 12, 2024. Investigators started following leads that, authorities say, quickly escalated the case from a welfare check to a homicide probe.
Detectives first located a body in a wooded area in Hernando County on May 20, 2024. Several weeks later, on June 14, 2024, new information led them to a creek in Homosassa in Citrus County, where they recovered Macdonald’s remains. Local reporters pieced together that multi-agency timeline and the cross-county search efforts, according to 352Today.
Charges and alleged fraud
According to investigators, the killings were followed by a flurry of financial activity. Detectives say Duane and Luequita Sclesky accessed bank accounts belonging to both victims, using cards at ATMs and businesses around Hernando and Citrus counties. That trail of alleged transactions helped fuel a thick stack of financial-crime counts in addition to the homicide charges.
Luequita Sclesky was booked on charges that include principal to first-degree murder, 75 counts of misuse of a deceased person’s personal identification, fraudulent use of a credit card and unlawful use of a two-way communication device, along with a separate murder charge out of Citrus County. Duane Sclesky faced first-degree murder charges in both counties, plus drug trafficking and possession counts involving fentanyl and other narcotics, according to Hernando Sun.
Family reaction and memorial
As the legal case moved forward, Macdonald’s family tried to reclaim her story from the grim headlines.
Relatives gathered for a remembrance where they spoke about her life and the toll of the investigation. "I don't want her to be remembered for only the last few years of her life," her relative Hope Yates told FOX 13. Citrus County Sheriff Mike Prendergast added, "They did not deserve to die that way." The comments captured the grief felt on both sides of the county line as the case wound its way through the courts.
Legal implications and next steps
Under Florida law, first-degree murder is a capital felony that can be punished by either life in prison or death. In especially complex, multi-count cases, it is not unusual for prosecutors and defense attorneys to resolve some charges with a plea that takes the death penalty off the table while leaving other counts to be sorted out later.
That is the context for authorities describing Luequita Sclesky’s negotiated plea as removing the death-penalty option in her case. Future hearings in the Fifth Judicial Circuit will determine what happens to the remaining charges and whether additional sentences will be handed down, in line with state law described by the Florida Senate.
Detectives say they are still reviewing evidence and monitoring court filings in both Hernando and Citrus counties. Authorities asked anyone with information to contact either sheriff’s office. For the families of Macdonald and Zickendrath, this week’s life sentence and plea developments mark a major milestone, even as the legal process continues.
