When something as life changing as the University of Idaho murders occurs, it can inspire the desire to catch the one responsible.
Not for justice, but for the fame that comes with it.
Despite a suspect being apprehended for the Idaho murders and the growing mountain of evidence accompanying him, a group of so-called social media sleuths continue to seek for the “true” culprit. This leads to false accusations of innocent people who are trying to mourn the loss of their friends and family.
To say this is an ignorant and emotionless play for views would be an understatement. I find it quite disgusting.
One particular case, albeit extreme, was when a self-proclaimed psychic detective on TikTok, Ashley Guillard, decided it would be a great idea to make serious accusations against Rebecca Scofield, a professor at the University of Idaho. How did she conclude this professor murdered her own students? Tarot cards and a surplus of imagination.
Along with Guillard’s tarot card readings, she proceeded to give “motive” for the professor to kill or order the killing of Scofield students. Some of the possible motives provided by Guillard included the professor harboring romantic feelings for one of the students and that she may have ordered another student to commit the crime in her stead.
The professor, Rebecca Scofield, has since gone on to sue the wannabe psychic for defamation, but instead of retracting her statement and apologizing for her actions, she doubled down on her remarks, only making the ditch she fell into even deeper.
Such unwarranted theories and accusations leave a horrible aftertaste to an already tragic event that is actively being investigated. Does this mean cyber sleuths are the bane of any investigation?
Absolutely not. In fact, there are some cases of crimes being solved because of the deductions of the community through social media and the internet as a whole.
Sometimes you need that extra thousand set of eyes to catch something that may have been missed. The ingenuity and use of the internet for the greater good can be extremely lucrative.
In the case of the Idaho murders, however, there is already a suspect, and justice being served sounding more likely by the day. Instead of just trying to make pointless accusations toward innocent friends and family of the victims, how about we let bygones be bygones and allow the authorities do their jobs.
Speculation can be used for good when it comes to solving crime, but I find it done best when it comes to cold cases or cases that have been open for years. With the ingenuity of the internet, it has become fascinating to look up old cases and come up with theories to give that sense of closure to otherwise depressing endings to horrible crimes.
Many of these cold cases and all of their relevant information can be found easily through a search engine. It’s truly a fascinating topic to discuss with other avid true crime aficionados.
Cases like the black dahlia, D.B. Cooper and the prison break of Alcatraz can be really entertaining for research and creating possible solutions to these otherwise dormant cases.
Over-speculation works best with cold cases because any possibility would be nice in receiving a proper ending to some of these otherwise tragic events. When it comes to open cases, it’s a bit more tricky.
Cases like the lottery winner murder are an example of the internet doing what it does best for justice, being nosy. The police may have suspected the culprit, but it was because of the knowledge and skepticism of the internet that allowed the authorities to make the arrest.
We live in a country where things like the Idaho murders and school shootings are more common than they should ever be. It’s understandable that people would want to throw their hat into the ring to help, but a large number of these self-proclaimed detectives tend to throw accusations into the wind to see what sticks.
At the end of the day, I think it’s important to sit down and review the facts. Four innocent people were killed, and the man who most likely did it is already in custody and people like Guillard think it’s OK to keep accusing at random.
At that point, speculation is not helping. No truth seeker would vie for benefits from the death of four students. There are other ways to get an investigative fix that doesn’t harm families who have lost their loved ones. Overall, just be considerate and read the room before speculating on a problem that’s already been solved.
