March 5, 2026
A TikTok tarot card influencer has been ordered to pay a University of Idaho professor $10 million after falsely accusing her of orchestrating the brutal killings of four students.
A University of Idaho professor has been awarded a $10 million judgment after a TikTok tarot card influencer spread a bizarre and false conspiracy theory accusing her of orchestrating the brutal 2022 quadruple murders of four students.
On Feb. 27, a Boise, Idaho, jury in U.S. District Court ordered Texas-based fortune teller Ashley Guillard to pay $10 million after determining she falsely accused professor Rebecca Scofield of having a secret relationship with one of the four victims and orchestrating their murders, the Idaho Statesman reports. Following the verdict, Scofield said she hopes the case sends a clear warning that making “false statements online has consequences in the real world.”
“The murders of the four students on November 13, 2022, were the darkest chapter in our university’s history,” she said. “Today’s decision shows that respect and care should always be granted to victims during these tragedies. I am hopeful that this difficult chapter in my life is over, and I can return to a more normal life with my family and the wonderful Moscow community.”
Scofield, who chairs the history department at the University of Idaho, filed a lawsuit in December 2022 against Guillard, a Houston-based tarot card reader on TikTok. The suit came just weeks after Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin were fatally stabbed at an off-campus rental home in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022.
The lawsuit centered on a series of TikTok videos in which Guillard claimed, without evidence, that Scofield had a romantic relationship with one of the victims and orchestrated the killings. According to the complaint, Scofield had never met the victims and was out of state when the killings occurred.
Still, Guillard began posting videos to her more than 100,000 TikTok followers in late November 2022, falsely claiming Scofield had a secret relationship with one of the students and had “ordered” the murders, in videos that racked up millions of views. Even after receiving cease-and-desist letters and after police publicly confirmed Scofield had no connection to the crime, Guillard allegedly continued posting, declaring, “I am not stopping,” while questioning why Scofield needed three lawyers, “if she’s so innocent.”
Scofield’s legal team argued that the false accusations portrayed the professor as a criminal and threatened to damage her career. Guillard, who represented herself in court, argued that her statements reflected personal beliefs based on tarot card readings.
Authorities later arrested Bryan Kohberger, a criminology Ph.D. student at Washington State University at the time. Kohberger later pleaded guilty in a deal that allowed him to avoid the death penalty and is now serving four consecutive life sentences in an Idaho state prison. Jurors awarded Scofield $7.5 million in punitive damages and an additional $2.5 million in compensatory damages.
“I want to thank the jury for their time and attention to this case. The judge had already ruled as a matter of law that the statements were false,” Scoffield said. “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.”
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