Former Car Dealer and Part-Owner of Three Monkeys, Stella Blues Commits Suicide

By Nicholas Phillips on Wed, Sep 30, 2009 at 12:20 pm

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John Van Hoogstraat, 63, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head on Monday inside Stella Blues, a south city bar he co-owned.

According to a police spokesperson, officers found Van Hoogstraat at 3 p.m. Monday inside his bar at 3269 Morganford, just south of Tower Grover Park.

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Stella Blues closed for business earlier this summer. Van Hoogstraat was also part-owner of the restaurant Three Monkeys restaurant, a few blocks further north on Morganford.

An obit that appeared today in the Post-Dispatch says that Van Hoogstraat was the

"president/owner of Royal Gate Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, Inc. for 26 years and in the automotive business for 40 years and entrepreneur of other successful business ventures"

Updates to come....