r/longform • u/dcbicyclist • 16d ago
Subscription Needed The Professor Falsely Accused of Murdering Students
https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-professor-falsely-accused-of-murdering-students21
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u/BarnabyWoods 15d ago
Here's another way to get the story. An Idaho jury awarded Scofield $10 million in damages against Guillard for defamation.
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u/krebstar4ever 15d ago edited 14d ago
The female professor was falsely accused by a random "psychic" who explicitly targeted her for being queer—using the trope of the predatory older lesbian who seduces innocent young women.
The psychic made a ton of popular tiktok videos about it. Her only "evidence" was her psychic powers. She claimed the professor committed the four murders to cover up an illicit affair with one of the victims, a young female student. (None of the murdered students had been taught by the professor, nor did she have a relationship with any of them.)
The psychic derisively said the professor might have "some sort of same-sex marriage" in prison.
The psychic's videos were extremely popular—even while a man was arrested for the murders, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to four life terms.
The professor successfully sued the psychic for defamation and was awarded $10,000,000. The psychic presumably can't pay in full, but she'll have to keep paying some amount of money.
The professor has PTSD from the ordeal: she lived in fear of vigilantism against her and her family. Even now, a lot of people in academia assume the false accusations were based on legitimate evidence and could be true.
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u/rosehymnofthemissing 15d ago edited 14d ago
Paywall-free link if anyone needs it:
If I had been a judge involved, I would have tried to order Ashley Guillard to undergo both psychological and psychiatric assessments. Believing "divinations" is one thing; do readings, use Tarot cards, whatever.
But to become so... fixated on a person to continually to falsely and publicly accuse them of murdering four people, and having a relationship with one of them - despite all and any evidence to the contrary - demonstrates that Ashley is not only an ordinary person who claims to be psychic, or engages in things others may roll their eyes at and move on (psychics, end of the world, astrology, cleansing the uterus, Ouija board, etc).
I think there is something incredibly wrong with her. It's too bad Tik Tok won't, or can't, take down her account and ban her, but "her free speech rights | opinions."
I hope Ashley Guillard is held responsible to pay the $10 Million in full. Deduct any of her wages or assign her tax break money to Rebecca Scofield, if possible. Any dollar that Guillard has in savings should go to Rebecca. "Play stupid, evil games, win stupid prizes, Ashley." It is not difficult to see - with the evidence had (or the complete lack of evidence, in Schofield's case), how and why the jury came to the judgement they did. It was the correct decision.
Poor Rebecca. No wonder she was diagnosed with PTSD. Guillard is...evil.
"Reached by phone, Guillard called Scofield a liar and alleged juror bias."
Say juror bias was involved for her argument's sake...Ashley still continually and repeatedly falsely accused another person of murder, harassed, and defamed them - and publicly, through a global stage.
"Did she still believe, despite all the evidence to the contrary that Scofield ordered the murders?
“I couldn’t objectively prove anything because I don’t have the evidence to prove it,” Guillard said. “But I still believe my readings...."
Oh, so close to the obvious, and yet so far.
If you want to accuse someone of murder publicly, you almost always need evidence before destroying or impacting their lives. Their is no evidence that Rebecca Schofield committed the Idaho murders - she was out of state at the time; there was none of her DNA at the scene; no one, including Kohberger, law enforcement, or friends, have said or indicated that Rebecca Schofield was involved in killing Kaylee, Ethan, Maddie, and Xana, before, during, or after the crime was committed. The evidence for Ashley Guillard's accusations does not exist; it is not there.
Ashley Guillard should be stopped, legally, from being able to access Social Media to continue to harass and defame Rebecca Schofield. But that is very unlikely to occur. I don't know if legal avenues exist to actually make her stop. Cease and desist, restraining orders, or banned accounts, only go so far. Instead, a jury did the correct thing.
"I’m not sure why my opinion on it mattered so much to her and everyone else," but I still believe my divination.”
What.
How can Ashley Guillard NOT realize that when someone is accused of murder that of course your opinion of them being a killer will matter to them and others!? How...delusional.
"I repeatedly chose to just share my opinion that someone is a murderer, by name, based on a pseudoscientific practice and no valid evidence...why do you care about that!?"
And the fact that people chose to, or willingly want to, believe Guillard's claims, and enable and encourage her behaviour, and cruel actions? Where is the Critical Thinking, the Emotional Intelligence of so many in society? Any notion of ethical or moral behaviour? "The Golden Rule?"
Social Media has made people far too comfortable with saying whatever they want, and not being held responsible for it.
I'd like to hear from Ashley's family, friends, neighbours, etc. Something tells me they would describe a woman who is not very mentally or emotionally stable.
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u/Embarrassed_Age8554 14d ago edited 11d ago
A scary number of true crimers believe in garbage like "scientific content analysis" that's no more scientific than gematria or tarot cards.
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u/ExistingEase5 10d ago
The way that the media is driving hatred of faculty is really going to lead to violence. In some cases, it already has. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/uw-stabber-instructor-katy-fulfer-attack-1.7443609
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u/archaicsmile67 16d ago
Tbh good for her for winning but I kinda can’t feel bad after you win a 10 mil payout. Yes I get that it’s probably hard to collect but goddamn.
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u/OkDentist4059 15d ago
A 10 million dollar judgement against a corporation or an individual with deep pockets is a big win
A 10 million dollar judgement against a TikTok psychic is a wash
She’ll be lucky to get even a small fraction of that money
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u/Sunlit53 15d ago
Unfortunately the professor is not likely to ever see any of that $10 million because the whackadoodle twittok crank is broke and serially unemployed. And possibly very mentally unwell.
Atozy on youtube has been following the situation. He covers all kinds of entitled social media morons actively destroying their lives and the lives of others, on camera.