Tempe police arrest man for weekend murder of 27-year-old woman

TEMPE, AZ - Police have arrested a suspect in the weekend murder of a 27-year-old Tempe woman.

According to Tempe Police Department spokesman Steven Carbajal, Eugene Wade Bradford was taken into custody Monday night.

He was apparently recognized by an employee at the Oreganos restaurant on University Drive and Ash Avenue after police released his photo to the media and asked for the public's help to find him.

"It was surreal" said Oreganos manager Brent Schawl. "I thought to myself, that was the guy on TV."

It was Monday night around 8 p.m. Schawl called police and continued to talk to the suspect.

"Mostly so he would think everything was normal," Schawl said.

By 8:30 police arrested Eugene Wade Bradford while he was eating cheese bread and drinking a beer.

"It's almost like he expected to be caught." Schawl said.

Carbajal said the victim of the Saturday night murder has been identified as Natalie Allan.

A relationship had apparently just ended between Allan and Bradford when the murder happened.

Carbajal said Allan had arrived at Bradford's home to pick up some of her belongings when he shot her once with a handgun, killing her.

Bradford has been booked into Tempe City Jail and is facing a first degree murder charge.