MOSCOW, Idaho – A Tik Tok user who claimed that her tarot cards proved that a University of Idaho professor orchestrated a quadruple-murder to cover up an affair with a student was found to have committed defamation in US district court.
Ashley Guillard gained minor notoriety on Tik Tok for claiming that a “spiritual investigation” revealed that University of Idaho Professor Rebecca Scofield was involved in the murder of four students in Nov. 2022.
Guillard provided no evidence for her claims beyond her tarot readings. Bryan Kohberger was charged with the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin in Dec. 2022, but Guillard continued to claim that Scofield was the true culprit.
A US District Court Judge approved a motion for partial summary judgment and a complaint to add punitive damages on June 6, asserting that Guillard had committed defamation and caused harm to Scofield.
“[Guillard’s] social media postings were primarily self-serving, motivated by online viral attention, and made with an extremely harmful state of mind,” Chief US Magistrate Judge Raymond Patricco wrote in the memorandum decision.
Patricco left the decision of whether Guillard will ultimately pay punitive damages to a future jury, but did rule that she had committed defamation. She filed a request for the case to be moved to a different judge on June 13.
