HOW far would you go to catch a killer?
For the best friend of one slain sex-trade worker, there are no limits.
Kat places a memorial ribbon on a post near where friend Tatia Ulm's body was found in a dumpster in 2005.
Kat -- who doesn't want her last name published -- is looking for the killer of Tatia Ulm, found dead in a dumpster in May 2005.
Her efforts have taken her into several inner-city crackhouses, where she has strapped on a hidden tape recorder in hopes of finding some answers.
Kat has also begun walking and driving the streets at night, developing friendly relationships with several of the streetwalkers.
She has Winnipeg police homicide detectives on speed dial, phoning them frequently with tips she picks up on the street.
"I'm determined to find out what happened to (Ulm)," said Kat, who shakes off suggestions she may be putting herself at risk.
"I feel like Tatia is watching over me," she said.
Ulm used to own her own hair salon until she became addicted to crack cocaine in her late 20s and began working the streets.
Kat admits their friendship fell apart as Ulm's life hit a downward spiral, ending with the discovery of her battered body inside a North-End garbage dumpster.
She was 39.
Kat now wears a necklace with a set of gold handcuffs as a symbol of what the killing has done to her.
"I feel like a prisoner," she said.
Kat doesn't believe her friend was the victim of a serial killer but rather someone who knew her and may have had a grudge.
Ulm had several outstanding drug debts and was known to smoke crack in a garage just metres from where she was found. She had also been seen leaving a nearby crackhouse about four hours earlier.
Kat does believe a multiple killer is on the loose, especially following a string of recent deaths where the sex-trade workers have been dumped in the same general vicinity on the outskirts of Winnipeg.
Rumours are running wild on the streets along with reports of "bad dates" and possible connections to the killings.
"The girls don't know who to be scared of," said Kat.
She has also learned first-hand the difficult job police face solving the crimes.
"The girls don't want to talk to the cops," she said.
"I wish the girls out there were more alert, but it's hard in the condition they're in. But I understand why they're doing it."
She believes the only logical answer is creating a safehouse where sex-trade workers could operate without fear of arrest.
Otherwise the killings will likely continue.
www.mikeoncrime.com
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