Darren Elliot Grant (53) was convicted of murder in 1984 - so long ago that court documents detailing the killing are held by Archives New Zealand.
He was released on parole for the fourth time in December 2014 with one of the conditions barring him from consuming alcohol.
But on September 15, Grant relapsed, the Dunedin District Court heard this week.
Police pulled him over for speeding in Kaikorai Valley Rd and he admitted having drunk some beer.
A breath test gave a reading of 564mcg of alcohol per litre of breath - more than double the legal limit.
While he gave no explanation for his indiscretion to officers at the time, Grant was more talkative when he appeared in front of the Parole Board the following month as it decided whether or not to recall him to prison.
He told the board he had returned to Dunedin to obtain work but a shoulder injury had thwarted that.
Grant had trouble finding steady accommodation and ''was generally leading an unstable and unsettled life; due, as he put it, to a lack of support''.
The prisoner told the board he now had accommodation and support lined up but panel convener Neville Trendle said it did not alleviate the ''public safety concerns'' his release would entail.
''It is evident that Mr Grant needs to enlarge his support network and to secure stable, preferably long-term, accommodation,'' Mr Trendle said.
Defence counsel Noel Rayner stressed his client's breath-alcohol reading was ''relatively low'' and that he had been only slightly over the speed limit at the time.
While Grant had a considerable criminal record, Mr Rayner said it had tailed off in recent years.
Grant's previous drink-driving convictions came in 2000 and 2003.
Judge John Macdonald said normally such an offence might result in someone receiving an electronically monitored sentence, but Grant's circumstances were different.
He sentenced the man to three months' imprisonment.
The Parole Board will see him again in March.
Grant was also disqualified from driving for a year and a day.
