University of Idaho Professor Sues TikTok Personality Who Linked Her to Student Murders

Boise State University students, along with people who knew the four University of Idaho students who were found killed in Moscow, Idaho, days earlier, pay their respects at a vigil held in front of a statue on the Boise State campus in Boise, Idaho, on Nov. 17, 2022. (Sarah A. Miller/Idaho Statesman via AP)

A professor at the University of Idaho filed a defamation lawsuit against a TikTok personality, who published dozens of videos linking the professor to the killing of four students at the campus last month, court documents show.

The deaths of the four University of Idaho students remain unsolved after their bodies were found in a three-story house near the campus on Nov. 13. Police said each victim was stabbed multiple times and some had defensive wounds. The authorities have made no arrest, nor did they identify a suspect in the case.

Ashley Guillard, a purported crime sleuth with over 108,000 followers on the short-video platform, published “many videos on TikTok falsely stating that Plaintiff Rebecca Scofield participated in the murders because she was romantically involved with one of the victims,” read the complaint filed on Dec. 21.

“Guillard’s statements are false. Professor Scofield did not participate in the murders, and she had never met any of the victims, let alone entered a romantic relationship with them,” according to the lawsuit filed in Idaho’s federal district court.

Guillard, who consults Tarot cards and other readings to obtain information about murders, made the accusation against the history professor on Nov. 22, the lawsuit alleges.

“I don’t care what y'all say …Rebecca Scofield killed [the four students] … REBECCA WAS THE ONE TO INITIATE THE PLAN…” Guillard wrote in a video on TikTok.

Scofield, an associate professor who served as the chair of the history department, “did not commit or in any way participate in the murders of the four students,” the complaint states.

Scofield was with her husband in Portland, Oregon, visiting friends during the time when the four students were killed, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit states that Scofield had never taught any of the victims. “Although the University of Idaho is a relatively small university, she does not recall ever meeting any one of these students.”

The document added the professor had also never met Guillard before.

The TikTok app is seen on a smartphone in this illustration taken on July 13, 2021. (Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters)

Cease-and-Desist Letters and Response

According to the lawsuit, Scofield’s lawyer sent a cease-and-desist letter to Guillard on Nov. 29, stating Guillard’s claims were baseless and demanding her to take the videos down.

Yet Guillard didn’t stop posting videos. In a video published on Dec. 1, Guillard said, “I’m not worried about Rebecca Scofield suing me because she will be using her resources to fight four murder cases.”

“She ordered the execution,” Guillard added, according to the complaint.

On Dec. 8, Scofield’s second cease-and-desist letter was sent to Guillard, “again demanding that Guillard take down her defamatory posts and that Guillard stop making defamatory TikTok,” according to the complaint.

Guillard’s videos have been viewed “millions of times” and amplified her account “at the expense of Professor Scofield’s reputation,” the lawsuit said.

Guillard’s TikToks have caused the professor “significant emotional distress,” the lawsuit said. “She fears that Guillard’s false statements may motivate someone to cause harm to her or her family members.”

The professor’s lawsuit is seeking a trial by jury and compensatory and punitive damages.

“The statements made about Professor Scofield are false, plain and simple. What’s even worse is that these untrue statements create safety issues for the Professor and her family. They also further compound the trauma that the families of the victims are experiencing and undermine law enforcement efforts to find the people responsible in order to provide answers to the families and the public,” Wendy Olson, Scofield’s lawyer told The Epoch Times. “Professor Scofield twice sent cease and desist letters to Ms. Guillard, but Ms. Guillard has continued to make false statements, knowing they are false.  Thus, this lawsuit became necessary to protect Professor Scofield’s safety and her reputation.”

Guillard, in response, called Scofield‘s lawsuits “false, frivolous and perjurious.”  “I look forward to presenting the evidence I gathered in court,” she said in an email.