Texas TikTok Psychic Hit With $10M Judgment for False Idaho Murders Claims

A Texas woman was ordered to pay $10 million in damages after falsely accusing a University of Idaho professor of orchestrating the murders of four Moscow, Idaho, college students.

​Rebecca Scofield testified on February 27 during a four-day trial over monetary damages that false accusations left her with severe anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and widespread nerve pain, conditions that significantly impacted her ability to work as chair of the University of Idaho’s history department, according to the Idaho Statesman.

Court documents show that about two weeks into the investigation into the November 2022 stabbing deaths of the four students, the defendant, Ashley Guillard, 41, of Houston, created and posted a series of TikTok videos in which she blamed Scofield.

​Guillard testified that she possessed psychic abilities, and tarot cards helped her solve the mass murders. She said the cards pointed her toward Scofield. Guillard made about 112 videos on the incident.

​Additionally, Guillard shared photos and personal contact information for Scofield, claiming that Scofield had an affair with one of the female victims and attempted to cover it up by ordering her killing. Guillard said she used the videos to seek justice for the victims.

A seven-member jury, made up of four women and three men, unanimously ruled that Guillard must pay Scofield $7.5 million in punitive damages. The remaining $2.5 million is intended to cover economic costs such as medical bills and non-economic damages, including mental and emotional pain and suffering.

Scofield told the Idaho Statesman that the ruling “sends the clear message that false statements online have consequences in the real world for real people and are unacceptable in our community”.

​The murders of the four students on November 13, 2022, were the darkest chapter in our university’s history. Today’s decision shows that respect and care should always be granted to victims during these tragedies,” she added.

​Scofield accused Guillard of spreading lies about her and her husband. “You were making (dozens) of videos about me, someone you never met, you never talked to — someone you had no connection to. I don’t know how anyone could not feel threatened by that level of interest from someone they had never met,” Scofield said in court.

In the early hours of November 13, 2022, four students—Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, and Xana Kernodle—were stabbed to death in an off-campus house in Moscow, Idaho.

​A forensic expert revealed that the perpetrator, Bryan Kohberger, was trying to play out a “psychosexual fantasy” when he murdered the students.

​Kohberger is currently serving four consecutive life sentences in prison without parole, as well as another ten years for burglary.