Less than two months after he was released from prison to a halfway house, a Nova Scotia man convicted in the 2007 death of his grandmother is back in police custody.

James Douglas Gloade was sentenced to 15 years for manslaughter in the death of 72-year-old Mi'kmaq activist Nora Bernard.

Bernard's body was found on Millbrook First Nation in late December 2007. Court heard that Gloade had taken prescription drugs and smoked $500 worth of crack the day he attacked her.

He went to Bernard to ask for money and she gave him $20, which he used to purchase more drugs. After he smoked the rest of his crack, he went back to her house and demanded more cash. When Bernard refused, he hit his grandmother in the face three or four times and then slit her throat with a kitchen knife.

Bernard had fought for years to get compensation for residential school survivors. A former resident of the Shubenacadie school, she received a compensation cheque for $14,000 just weeks before she died.

Gloade, 35, was freed from prison on statutory release on May 4 and was ordered to live in a halfway house.

According to the Correctional Service of Canada, he violated the conditions of his release on June 20 and was unlawfully at large for six days until he was apprehended by the authorities on Tuesday morning.

Citing privacy requirements, the agency would not disclose where he was arrested, which police force arrested him or where he had been living.

A Parole Board of Canada decision issued April 25, just days before his release, found Gloade's risk to reoffend was a "matter of concern" and that he should be placed in a halfway house, as he would otherwise present "an undue risk to society."

"You committed a serious offence causing the death of an individual who was ultimately attempting to help you. Your offence demonstrated violent behaviour that was fuelled by a lack of emotional control, and your institutional behaviour has demonstrated a continuation of this type of behaviour," the document states.

Gloade has been convicted of assaulting other inmates while in prison, and was found with a wooden shank, two metal spikes and homemade syringes during his time behind bars.

Gloade led a difficult life in the years leading to his incarceration, with his early years marked by domestic, emotional and sexual abuse. He lost two relatives to suicide and entered a home where a suicide had occurred before it was cleaned, the document notes.

He quit school in order to make a living selling drugs, and began self-harming and using illicit drugs to deal with negative emotions stemming from traumatic experiences.

"Your family and community continue to suffer the systemic negative impact of the residential school system," the parole board decision states.

"The board acknowledges that your life experiences have impacted on your negative and criminal behaviour, and that these experiences are reflective of those experienced by many Aboriginal people. That said, this does not mitigate the risk that you pose for future violent behaviour."

The board noted that Gloade has difficulty following rules and has a disregard for authority, and assessed his potential to reintegrate into society as low.

When he was released in May, he was not granted leave privileges. His release conditions include not consuming drugs or alcohol, not associating with criminals and not having any contact with the victim's family. He also must continue his treatment plan to deal with past trauma, emotion management and substance abuse.