It was a short taste of freedom for convicted killer Alfred “Freddie” Bishop — 10 months, 17 days.

After three decades in jail, that’s all the time he had between his release last August and his arrest last month.

Alfred “Freddie” Bishop is led into the courtroom yesterday. Bishop had served 33 years in prison for a 1973 shotgun murder. Now, he’s charged with killing a man during a late-night break-in in Warwick.

The Providence Journal / Kathy Borchers

Yesterday Bishop was ordered held without bail on a new murder charge and six related counts at his appearance in Kent County District Court.

In 1973, it was the shotgun death of a friend that sent him to jail. Now it is alleged that Bishop fatally shot Warwick resident Gabriel Medeiros, 35, and wounded his brother and sister-in-law during a late-night burglary in June. When the family tried to fight off their intruder, he opened fire, the police say.

Bishop, now 65, appeared unfazed by the severity of the allegations leveled against him yesterday. Flanked by two court officers, he said little, his graying hair combed back, his clothing rumpled.

Prosecutors never got the chance to present details about the night of the killing before Judge William Clifton ordered Bishop held on the murder charge, as well as two counts of assault with intent to murder, one count of burglary and three counts of discharging a firearm.

Because all are felonies, Bishop was not allowed to enter any pleas.

More than a dozen Medeiros family members sat with Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch in the courtroom, watching Bishop’s every move. But like the accused killer, their expressions revealed little.

Outside the courthouse, a third Medeiros brother, John Medeiros, said he was troubled that Bishop was out of jail on the 1973 conviction. “After so many years, to get out like that, it shouldn’t happen,” he said.

Addressing the media, Lynch said prosecutors believe it’s important to move beyond Bishop’s “storied past” and “evil legend” and focus on the facts in this case: namely that Bishop shattered a family’s world the night he invaded their home while they slept and attacked them.

But Bishop’s lawyer Paul DiMaio acknowledged it would be difficult for his client to escape his criminal history. “He was out on parole for a murder,” DiMaio said. “ … the chances of forgetting that are impossible.”

In the years following his 1973 conviction, Bishop was said to have cut an intimidating path through the maximum-security facility at the Adult Correctional Institutions, inspiring fear in inmates and guards.

At the time of his release, last summer, Bishop’s lawyer, John F. Cicilline, said Bishop had mellowed over the years and just wanted to live a quiet life.

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY criminologist Jack Levin said that, for some convicted murderers, that’s not unusual. Statistics show that recidivism rates for convicted killers are typically low, Levin said.

“Most murderers don’t repeat their crimes, but there are a few for whom murder is simply a way of making a living. They’ve done it when they’re young and they will do it when they are older,” Levin said.

“Certainly [Bishop] led a career of committing violent and property crimes. It’s the only thing he knew. You don’t learn job skills behind bars, so it shouldn’t surprise us that a repeat offender might take up where he left off.”

Warwick police have refused to say how they tied Bishop to the Medeiros case.

Police Maj. Joseph H. Tavares refused yesterday to release Bishop’s initial arrest report — a public document under Rhode Island’s Open Records Law — citing an investigation. “Although our arrest has been made, there are follow-up investigations to be made and issues to consider,” Tavares said.

Warwick police have previously said the gunman entered the house at 43 Warwick Lake Ave. just after midnight. When owner Caesar Medeiros, 43, confronted the assailant, he was shot in the arm. His wife, Claire, 39, made a similar attempt and was shot in the leg. Caesar’s brother, Gabriel Medeiros, who was living with the couple, was shot in the chest and killed almost instantly.

Bishop was arrested five days later on a parole violation and sent back to the ACI. At the time, the police also named him as a suspect in the murder, but did not initially arrest him on the charge. They refuse to discuss his suspected involvement or what he did to violate his parole.

Having waived his right to an immediate bail hearing, Bishop is due back in court on Sept. 6.

With reports from Journal staff writer Stu Woo

cneedham@projo.com