A TikTok tarot card reader just learned that baseless murder accusations carry a hefty price tag.
A federal jury in Boise, Idaho, slapped Ashley Guillard, 41, of Houston, Texas, with a $10 million judgment Friday after finding she defamed University of Idaho professor Rebecca Scofield by falsely tying her to the November 2022 stabbing deaths of four students, the Idaho Statesman reported. The seven-person panel reached its unanimous decision in under two hours. Scofield’s attorneys had only requested $1 million in compensatory damages during closing arguments, leaving punitive figures to the jury’s discretion.
Guillard kicked off her TikTok campaign against Scofield roughly two weeks after the murders, according to the Statesman. She eventually produced 112 videos through August 2025, according to Guillard’s attorney, Wendy Olson.
She allegedly shared Scofield’s photographs and personal contact details while claiming the professor orchestrated the killings to conceal a romantic relationship with one of the victims, the outlet reported. Scofield was visiting friends in Portland, Oregon, with her husband when the attacks occurred and had never taught any of the four students, Crime Online reported, citing the lawsuit. Moscow police publicly stated they did not consider the professor a suspect. (RELATED: Fmr Homicide Detective Describes Scenario That Could Put Kohberger Back ‘On The Street’ Despite Life Sentence)
The professor told the court the ordeal left lasting scars.
“It was like a stone on my chest that was not crushing me, it was dissolving me,” Scofield testified, according to the Idaho Statesman. “I was unraveling underneath the weight of it.”
Scofield testified she developed debilitating depression and chronic nerve pain as a direct consequence of the accusations, the Statesman reported.
Tarot TikToker must pay $10M to professor she accused in Moscow murders, jury says https://t.co/03CTPQrjKg
— Idaho Statesman (@IdahoStatesman) March 2, 2026
Guillard represented herself during the trial, the Idaho Statesman reported.
“We work with intuition, not facts,” she testified. “The facts are the job of law enforcement, not a psychic.”
Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Raymond Patricco had already ruled in June 2024 that her statements were legally defamatory, finding that “psychic intuition, without more, cannot establish a genuine dispute of material fact,” according to court records reviewed by Reason.
The jury split its award between the two claims: $6.5 million for the false allegations tied to the student’s murders and $3.5 million for the fabricated relationship accusations, KIVI-TV reported.
The verdict landed more than three years after the killings and months after the actual perpetrator faced justice. Bryan Kohberger, a former Washington State University doctoral student, pleaded guilty to all four murders last year and is now serving four consecutive life sentences in an Idaho state prison, Fox News reported.
“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 told Fox News Digital.