Joseph Stoddard was a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point during the 1830s. In 1830, he, Leroy Fry, and Randolph Ballinger raped Mattie Landor as she left an academy ball, leading to her suicide shortly after. Her father Augustus Landor secretly murdered Fry and was recruited by West Point Superintendent Sylvanus Thayer to find the killer, and, in the process, Landor also secretly killed Ballinger. Afraid that he might be the next victim, Stoddard went into hiding, and Landor contented himself with the thought that Stoddard would be looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life.