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A little more than three months after Sonia Varaschin was killed in her Orangeville home, another woman in her 40s was attacked at her own residence, just 20 minutes away.

While police are not drawing any conclusions about the two cases, they say investigators on both crimes will compare notes to determine if there is any connection.

"At the present time, both of these incidents are being treated as separate," said Ontario Provincial Police Constable Peter Leon, adding that they are being dealt with by separate groups of officers.

The more recent attack unfolded Tuesday afternoon at a home on the 10th Sideroad, just north of Orangeville. Sometime after 2 p.m., the 44-year-old was in a garage that had been converted into a studio when she was attacked.

A family member reported finding her around 4:45 p.m.

She was taken to hospital in Orangeville and later airlifted to Sunnybrook hospital in Toronto. She is listed in critical condition, but appears stable, police said.

Police would not detail exactly what her injuries are or how they were believed to have been caused.

Unlike Ms. Varaschin, who lived alone, the woman attacked Tuesday lived with her family, police said. It wasn't immediately clear if they were home at the time of the assault.

Ms. Varaschin, a 42-year-old nurse who worked for a Mississauga pharmaceutical company, is believed to have been attacked in her home one night in August. Her car was found parked in a laneway near city hall and her body was found a few days later in a wooded area outside of town.

While officers found a bootprint believed to belong to her killer, they were unable to identify any suspects. The killing remains unsolved.

Investigators are still working on Ms. Varaschin's case, following up on information, looking into tips from the public and analyzing physical evidence gathered at her home, the location where her body was found and the car.

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