University of Idaho professor says tarot reader’s Idaho murders accusation left her sleepless

A University of Idaho professor says she spent sleepless nights pacing outside her children’s rooms after a TikTok tarot reader falsely accused her of killing four students in a case that horrified the nation.

Dr. Rebecca Scofield, 41, was spending Thanksgiving in 2022 when she opened a video that left her shaken, she recalled in an essay for the New York Times.

The post displayed Scofield’s faculty photograph and contact details while claiming she was responsible for the deaths of University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.

The accusation came from Ashley Guillard, a 41-year-old Texas-based true-crime TikToker who promoted her supposed psychic powers as a way to identify the killer.

Guillard alleged that Scofield, then chair of the university’s Department of History, orchestrated the killings to conceal an improper romantic relationship with one of the victims.

The TikToker specifically claimed Scofield had arranged for Goncalves to be killed to keep an alleged affair from becoming public.

In two videos, Guillard directly stated that Scofield had ordered Goncalves’s execution, despite the professor having no involvement in the crime.

Guillard’s first video appeared just 11 days after the killings, as the murders rattled the local community. Scofield, however, said she had never even known the victims.

The family’s grief and the community’s shock were soon compounded by hundreds of additional videos in which Guillard repeated the allegations against Scofield.

‘I was overwhelmed with calls, messages, comments and emails, many of which were disturbing or threatening,’ she wrote.

As the posts accumulated, attracted larger audiences and inspired other users to embrace the theory, Scofield said she lost the community support she had hoped to rely on while mourning.

She shifted her classes online, abandoned social media and avoided the university campus. The changes left the professor feeling increasingly isolated.

‘I stopped sleeping well, and instead, I walked the hallway outside my children’s rooms, utterly terrified that they would be harmed by the person hyper fixated on me, any of her believers or the person actually responsible for the murders,’ Scofield said.

Some of the videos were published before Bryan Kohberger, a graduate student later identified as the real perpetrator, was arrested in December 2022. Kohberger eventually pleaded guilty to the killings and was sentenced to life in prison last year.

Scofield responded with a series of cease-and-desist letters and filed a defamation lawsuit in December 2022.

In one of her many TikTok posts, Guillard had warned that Scofield would ‘regret’ bringing the lawsuit.

In March, Guillard was ordered to pay Scofield $10 million after the professor sued the TikToker for defamation. 

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At the time, Guillard continued on her online crusade and accused the jurors of bias while claiming she had an unfair trial. 

While representing herself in court, she had told the jurors in her final argument: ‘It is reasonable that I believe Scofield to be a part of these murders. Any suggestion that her life was interrupted was her own choice.’ 

The jury deliberated for less than two hours before reaching their decision. The seven-member jury, composed of four women and three men, ruled unanimously for the $10 million figure.

Scofield told the court that the online frenzy stoked by Guillard had left her feeling like she ‘lost ownership’ of her face and name. 

‘I was no longer stitched to my body,’ she testified. 

Scofield’s lead attorney, Wendy Olson, said Guillard ultimately made 112 videos about the University of Idaho murders in her closing argument. She called Scofield’s experience a nightmare that ‘has never ended.’

‘We felt personally targeted,’ Scofield added of herself and her family, raising her voice at Guillard at times as she spoke.

‘It felt like our children’s lives were directly threatened – that my name was being thrown around by you saying horrific accusations that were fully baseless and not even from the community we were settled in,’ the Emmett, Idaho, native said.

‘It felt like an attack from the outside.’

A judge found Guillard liable for defamation last June. The proceedings in March were meant to determine punitive damages to be paid to the plaintiff.   

The bulk of the sum – $7.5 million – that she was ordered to pay is for punitive damages, designed to punish the defendant and deter similar behavior. 

The rest was classified as ‘compensatory,’ meaning they covered real costs. It is unclear if Guillard has the means to pay the enormous amount. 

Scofield had initially asked for $1.8million, meaning jurors awarded her far more than desired. 

In a statement to Our News Outlet, Scofield expressed gratitude to the jury for the verdict.

‘I want to thank the jury for their time and attention to this case… The $10 million verdict reinforces the judge’s decision and sends the clear message that false statements online have consequences in the real world for real people and are unacceptable in our community,’ Scofield said. 

Following the ordeal, Scofield urged social media users to be more mindful about their online consumption and creation. 

‘Ask yourself if the platforms that profit from enabling the spread of unverified information should continue to remain insulated from accountability,’ she wrote in the Times. 

‘And remember that what seems like harmless entertainment could shape not only individual lives, but the course of history.’