A cold-bloodied trend.

In the past, murder has been a family affair; the majority of victims were killed by someone known to them -- one third by a family member of relative. Now, a trend that's been observed in the United States has crossed the border into Canada. Toronto police say that killings by strangers accounted for almost half of 1994's homicides. In 1985, only 20% of the city's murder victims died at the hands of someone they didn't know. The evidence suggests these could bloodied killings are coming from organized crime and the illegal drug trade. They are not the kind of killings that strike fear into entire neighborhoods -- the random acts of violent maniacs. This is a Toronto only phenomenon; for the rest of Canada, homicides committed by strangers have remained stable over the last decade at 12% to 18% of all murders.