A woman who describes herself as a psychic, and who baselessly accused a University of Idaho professor in TikTok videos of involvement in the 2022 murders of four students, is seeking to overturn a court ruling that ordered her to pay the academic $10 million in damages.
In a recent motion she prepared herself, tarot reader Ashley Guillard called the lawsuit filed by historian Rebecca Scofield “fraudulent” and asked a federal court in Idaho to set aside the jury verdict delivered against her.
In a separate filing, Guillard also gave notice of her intention to appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco, which hears federal cases from Idaho.
The case between Scofield and Guillard is widely seen as an example of how the true-crime genre can spiral out of control. In fact, the killer turned out to be Bryan Kohberger, a criminology graduate student from Washington state—not the plaintiff. He pleaded guilty to the murders of Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin, and Kaylee Goncalves, committed on November 13, 2022, in a house in Moscow, Idaho.
Before Kohberger’s arrest in late December 2022 in connection with the brutal stabbings, Guillard had posted TikTok videos in which she claimed, without any basis, that Scofield had been romantically involved with one of the victims.
Guillard—a Houston, Texas, resident who presented herself on TikTok as a “psychic crime solver”—publicly accused Scofield of orchestrating the murders, claiming she had supposedly tried to conceal a connection to one of the victims. As “evidence”, she pointed to tarot-card readings.
“Rebecca was the one who initiated the plan,” Guillard said in one video. In another, she declared: “Rebecca Scofield will go to prison for the murder of four University of Idaho students whether you like it or not.”
Scofield filed her defamation lawsuit on December 21, 2022, saying she feared possible physical violence against herself and her family because of those posts. She also stressed that she had never met any of the victims, whose killings drew global media attention.
At first, Guillard responded to the lawsuit with mockery on TikTok, saying she was “burning with excitement”.
“See you in court, Rebecca Scofield,” she wrote, while also trying to claim credit for solving other high-profile crimes, including the killing of Takeoff of Migos.
“Are you sure you want to do this, Rebecca Scofield? This is going to end badly for you.”
In July 2025, Kohberger pleaded guilty and was later sentenced to life in prison.
No one else was charged in the case. Kohberger admitted to carrying out the murders while studying in the criminal justice department at Washington State University, less than 10 miles—16 km—from Moscow. The motive was never established, nor was it ever explained why he left two roommates in the house unharmed.
After a three-day proceeding in February before US Magistrate Judge Raymond Patricco, the jury concluded that Guillard should compensate Scofield for the harm caused by the false accusations.
The court ruled that Guillard, who represented herself, must pay $2.5 million for financial losses caused by her statements, as well as another $7.5 million in punitive damages.
In March, Scofield’s lawyers additionally sought to recover more than $165,000 in legal costs from Guillard, as the Idaho Statesman previously reported.
On April 6, Guillard filed a motion to overturn the ruling and a notice of appeal. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit docketed that notice on Thursday.
In the filings, Guillard argues that the verdict against her “is not supported by the evidence or the facts of the case”.
“Unfortunately … I have to file an appeal,” she added, saying she had hoped “that we could all move on”.