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Aurora Kids | 5

City of Lights

Release Date: 02/03/2026

What Now? | 6 show art What Now? | 6

City of Lights

In a final interview with Al and Mary Ann, Willy aims to answer unresolved questions. CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains a description of suicide (from a work of fiction). This begins at 6 minutes 30 seconds and ends at 7 minutes. : If you feel this podcast is worth your time, please consider donating $3. : Send Willy an email at wn@willynast.com Key figures in this episode: Jeff Signorelli (1984-2002): 18-year-old man from Aurora, IL. Recent graduate of Aurora Central Catholic High School. Murdered on July 11, 2002. The case remains unsolved. Mary Ann Signorelli: Jeff's mother....

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Aurora Kids | 5 show art Aurora Kids | 5

City of Lights

Al and Mary Ann drive to the hospital to find Jeff. : If you feel this podcast is worth your time, please consider donating $3. : Send Willy an email at wn@willynast.com Key figures in this episode: Jeff Signorelli (1984-2002): 18-year-old man from Aurora, IL. Recent graduate of Aurora Central Catholic High School. Murdered on July 11, 2002. The case remains unsolved. Mary Ann Signorelli: Jeff's mother. Third-generation native of Aurora, IL. Has been involved in historic preservation efforts in Aurora.  Al Signorelli: Jeff's father. Born and raised in Chicago. Long-time resident of...

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A Seat at the Table | 4 show art A Seat at the Table | 4

City of Lights

A promising anti-violence program comes to Aurora. Mary Ann makes moves to keep it from falling apart. : If you feel this podcast is worth your time, please consider donating $3. : Send Willy an email at wn@willynast.com Key figures in this episode: Jeff Signorelli (1984-2002): 18-year-old man from Aurora, IL. Recent graduate of Aurora Central Catholic High School. Murdered on July 11, 2002. The case remains unsolved. Mary Ann Signorelli: Jeff's mother. Third-generation native of Aurora, IL. Has been involved in historic preservation efforts in Aurora. Did research on CeaseFire and explored...

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Single-Issue Candidate | 3 show art Single-Issue Candidate | 3

City of Lights

Al runs for city council. He finds himself up against more than his opponents in the election. : If you feel this podcast is worth your time, please consider donating $3 on Patreon. : Send Willy an email at wn@willynast.com Key figures in this episode: Jeff Signorelli (1984-2002): 18-year-old man from Aurora, IL. Recent graduate of Aurora Central Catholic High School. Murdered on July 11, 2002. The case remains unsolved. Mary Ann Signorelli: Jeff's mother. Third-generation native of Aurora, IL. Has been involved in historic preservation efforts in Aurora. Al Signorelli: Jeff's father. Born and...

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The Culture of the Department | 2 show art The Culture of the Department | 2

City of Lights

Al and Mary Ann meet with Aurora’s new chief of police, which sets the tone for their relationship with the APD. : If you feel this podcast is worth your time, please consider donating $3 at Patreon. : Send Willy an email at wn@willynast.com Key figures in this episode: Jeff Signorelli (1984-2002): 18-year-old man from Aurora, IL. Recent graduate of Aurora Central Catholic High School. Murdered on July 11, 2002. The case remains unsolved. Mary Ann Signorelli: Jeff's mother. Third-generation native of Aurora, IL. Her grandmother Ana immigrated to the United States from Romania in the early...

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It Could Be A Thick Book | 1 show art It Could Be A Thick Book | 1

City of Lights

Willy visits Al and Mary Ann for the first time. He learns more about his hometown than he expected. : If you feel this podcast is worth your time, please consider donating $3 at Patreon. : Send Willy an email at wn@willynast.com Key figures in this episode: Jeff Signorelli (1984-2002): 18-year-old man from Aurora, IL. Recent graduate of Aurora Central Catholic High School. Murdered on July 11, 2002. The case remains unsolved. Mary Ann Signorelli: Jeff's mother. Third-generation native of Aurora, IL. Al Signorelli: Jeff's father. Born and raised in Chicago, long-time resident of Aurora,...

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Introducing: City of Lights show art Introducing: City of Lights

City of Lights

In 2002, in the city of Aurora, Illinois, an 18-year-old man named Jeff Signorelli was killed in a completely random act of violence. His murder remains unsolved. In the years following Jeff's murder, his parents Al and Mary Ann led efforts to make Aurora a safer place. But those efforts put them at odds with leaders in Aurora, including the mayor and chief of police. As the investigation into Jeff’s murder grew cold, their grief was amplified by a growing frustration.  City of Lights is a true crime podcast about real life after the crime. Instead of asking "whodunnit?" or "how?" or...

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Al and Mary Ann drive to the hospital to find Jeff.

DONATE: If you feel this podcast is worth your time, please consider donating $3.

CONTACT: Send Willy an email at wn@willynast.com

Key figures in this episode:

Jeff Signorelli (1984-2002): 18-year-old man from Aurora, IL. Recent graduate of Aurora Central Catholic High School. Murdered on July 11, 2002. The case remains unsolved.

Mary Ann Signorelli: Jeff's mother. Third-generation native of Aurora, IL. Has been involved in historic preservation efforts in Aurora. 

Al Signorelli: Jeff's father. Born and raised in Chicago. Long-time resident of Aurora, IL. Ran for the open seat of alderman-at-large on Aurora City Council in 2003. Has also been involved in historic preservation efforts in Aurora.

Kathy Deakin: EMT and Counselor who moved to Aurora in the early 2000s and spent several years laying the groundwork for a victim services program.

Bill Lawler: Long-time officer in the Aurora Police Department who became the Chief of Police in 2002, a few weeks after Jeff's murder.

Tom Weisner: Mayor of Aurora following David Stover, from 2007-2016. Died in 2018.

Joanne Furnas: Senior staff member at the Association of Individual Development. Supervised CeaseFire Aurora when AID became the host organization.

AID: Association for Individual Development. Long-established non-profit organization in Aurora whose primary mission was to support individuals with developmental, intellectual, physical, and mental health challenges. Became the host organization for CeaseFire Aurora after God's Gym dropped out of their agreement with CeaseFire.

Mutual Gound: Social services agency in Aurora that served victims of domestic abuse. Kathy Deakin hoped to house Aurora's Victim Services program here if it couldn't be housed within the APD.

Music courtesy of Blue Dot Sessions.

Chapters:

(00:00:00) Previously

(00:01:01) Walking in a Coma

(00:18:33) Stop All the Clocks

(00:34:06) Red

(01:01:14) Credits