Rebecca Scofield won a $10 million defamation verdict after an Idaho jury found that TikToker Ashley Guillard spread false accusations linking her to the 2022 Moscow student murders.
The decision follows a long defamation battle against Ashley Guillard, a Texas woman who used social media to spread fabricated claims that the academic was behind the 2022 Moscow student murders.
The seven-member jury took less than two hours on Friday to reach a verdict that far exceeded what Scofield’s own lawyers had asked for. “The jury’s decision sends the clear message that false statements online have consequences in the real world for real people and are unacceptable in our community,” Scofield said after the trial, noting that the murders were the university’s “darkest chapter” and that victims deserve respect.
The harassment started right after the November 2022 stabbings when Guillard began posting TikTok videos claiming her tarot card readings linked Scofield to the crimes. With zero evidence, the Houston woman alleged the professor had an affair with one of the victims and ordered the killings to cover it up. Even after Bryan Kohberger was arrested and eventually sentenced to four life terms, Guillard kept it up, posting over 100 videos through August 2025.
Scofield testified that the constant digital attacks led to PTSD, severe anxiety, and chronic physical pain. “There was a moment where it felt like I lost ownership of my face and my name, and it was no longer stitched to my body,” Scofield told the court, describing the ordeal as “utterly terrifying.”
The $10 million award is split into two parts to address the damage. The jury set $2.5 million in compensatory damages for Scofield’s medical bills and emotional suffering, plus another $7.5 million in punitive damages meant to punish Guillard and stop others from using the internet to destroy lives. Throughout the trial, Guillard acted as her own lawyer, arguing that her readings were “opinion at best” and that she didn’t need facts to speak her mind. She even claimed the disruption to Scofield’s life was the professor’s “own choice.”
During a heated moment in court, Scofield looked her accuser in the eye for the first time. “You spoke lies into a camera, about me and my husband,” Scofield told Guillard. “You were making (dozens) of videos about me, someone you never met… I don’t know how anyone could not feel threatened by that level of interest.”
Legal experts say the Rebecca Scofield defamation verdict could set a precedent for holding social media creators accountable when viral content crosses into provable falsehoods.
