Two women killed over the weekend in Metro Vancouver have now been identified by police, and investigators say one death may be linked to the ongoing gang violence simmering in the area.

On Monday, RCMP identified the body of a woman who was found one day earlier, inside a house in the suburb of Burnaby.

Investigators said Kimberly Lynn Hallgarth, 33, died suddenly and called the incident "suspicious," but said she was not known to police.

"Essentially we have a deceased female inside a residence and we are working from there," said Cpl. Dale Carr of the RCMP's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.

"We need to speak to a lot of people to get to the truth of what happened."

But another woman who was killed Saturday, Laura Lynn Lamoureux, was involved in the street-level drug trade, according to RCMP.

She was shot to death in Langley, just south of Vancouver. It's believed she was the third woman targeted since the latest rash of shootings began two months ago.

In February, a 22-year-old woman was shot inside a truck. Police believed she was a drug dealer. Two weeks later, the 23-year-old wife of a man known to police was gunned down inside a Cadillac, while her four-year-old son sat in the back seat.

"Apparently, these idiots just don't have a code," said Carr of the killers. "They'll just do whatever they please."

A former drug dealer who gave her name as "Devon" said gangs used to employ her because her gender protected her from being targeted.

"No man on the street was allowed to hurt me," she said.

But Cathy Prowse, a gang expert with the University of Calgary, said women are no longer safe because dozens of gangs are fighting over a highly lucrative -- but very competitive -- cocaine market.

"The proverbial financial pie has reached a point where the profit margin has diminished," said Prowse. "Anyone encroaching or seeking a greater share of that pie will be perceived as fair game."

With a report by CTV's Rob Brown in Vancouver