Jurors at the two-month-old trial for the man accused of killing and raping eight-year-old Victoria (Tori) Stafford are expected to hear closing arguments from the defence today.

Michael Rafferty, 31, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, sexual assault causing bodily harm and kidnapping.

The trial, which started on March 5, is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. ET.

Defence lawyer Dirk Derstine has suggested Rafferty was simply a horrified spectator to the abduction and death of the girl, who disappeared outside Oliver Stephens Public School in Woodstock, Ont., on April 8, 2009, and that Terri-Lynne McClintic was the "engine" behind the day's events.

Tori's remains were found more than three months later in a rural area near Mount Forest, a small community 100 kilometres north of Woodstock.

McClintic, 21, is currently serving a life sentence after pleading guilty two years ago to the first-degree murder of the Grade 3 student.

Earlier in the trial, Derstine suggested to McClintic that she took the girl over a "drug debt" and later offered her to Rafferty as a sexual gift, which he rejected. McClintic then killed the eight-year-old while he was away from the car.

Jurors heard from 62 witnesses

The Crown, however, alleges McClintic lured Tori to Rafferty's car after he asked her to abduct a young girl. The pair then drove to Guelph and eventually Mount Forest.

In March, McClintic testified she killed the girl with a hammer in a fit of rage after watching Rafferty rape Tori. The 21-year-old had previously said Rafferty delivered the fatal blows.

The Crown will present its closing arguments after the defence has finished, which could happen this afternoon.

Over the last two months, jurors have heard from 62 witnesses and almost 200 exhibits.

The defence presented its one-day case last week, calling a woman who picked up her grandchildren from Oliver Stephens Public School on the day Tori disappeared.

The woman, who cannot be identified, told jurors she saw a woman matching McClintic's description walk into the school and later saw her walking down the street with a young girl.

McClintic, however, testified that she waited outside the school on April 8, 2009.

The defence did not call any other witnesses, ending speculation Rafferty would testify.