Updated: Fri Dec. 16 2005 9:06:56 PM

CTV.ca News Staff

The trial of two grandparents accused of letting their five-year-old grandson starve to death was set to wrap-up on Friday.

Elva Bottineau, 54, and her 53-year-old common-law husband Norman Kidman are on trial for first-degree murder in relation to their grandson Jeffrey Baldwin's death on Nov. 30, 2002. Both have pleaded not guilty.

For almost three months the University Avenue courtroom has heard the story of Jeffrey's final weeks living with his grandparents.

The Crown maintains the young boy was neglected, locked in an unheated room with his sister. He was left, without food, for long periods of time until he died of starvation.

Testimony was heard during the trial about how the children were allegedly treated.

A boarder staying in the house said the stench emanating from the room was overpowering. James Mills recalled that the children were "surrounded by feces and urine," and "treated worse than a dog."

Mills admitted he did nothing to help as Jeffrey starved to death before his eyes.

However, Mills was not the only one to come under scrutiny during the trial.

The Catholic Children's Aid Society placed Jeffrey in his grandparents' care, despite Bottineau's conviction for the death of her infant daughter and Kidman's record as a convicted child abuser.

A Children's Aid assessment of Bottineau conducted in 1970 described her as an "incompetent parent who was a danger to herself and others."

The assessment was supported by testimony from a psychologist who evaluated Bottineau and diagnosed her with mental retardation.

The agency had seized Jeffrey and his sister while it probed abuse allegations against their parents in 1998.

The society has since admitted mistakes were made in the case, and has changed its screening policy for family adoptions.

Jeffrey's ordeal deeply affected his paternal grandmother, Susan Dimitriadis, who listened to some of the testimony.

"It's very overwhelming, I think every day about it -- why and how -- and it's very difficult," Dimitriadis told CTV News in October. "It's hard to think about it."

Final arguments will be heard in this case on Jan. 16, 2005.

If Bottineau and Kidman are found guilty they will face automatic life sentences with no chance for parole for 25 years.