A state appellate court has affirmed a first-degree murder verdict against a man who caused a fatal crash in Anaheim five years ago when a stolen stove fell from his truck.

The Fourth District Court of Appeal recently affirmed the conviction and sided with an Orange County judge that Cole Wilkins should be sentenced to 26 years to life. Wilkins had been convicted of first-degree murder. The decision was reported in the Orange County Register on Monday.

Prosecutors say Wilkins was hauling a stove he had stolen from a construction site, meaning the July 2006 death occurred while he was committing a felony.

Off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy David Stan Piquette tried to avoid the appliance, hit a truck and was crushed by a trailer full of cement.