Naden, whose head was scratched, did not apply for bail and sat shoeless and motionless in Taree Local Court.

He limped from the court at the end of the hearing.

His lawyer, Michael Jones, told reporters his client was "very tired with serious bite wounds from police dogs on his legs".

The police prosecutor asked that the case be brought back before the court within four weeks because more charges were expected to be laid against Naden.

Magistrate Michael Morahan agreed and adjourned the matter to April 24.

Homicide squad detectives have charged Malcolm Naden with the murder of Kristy Scholes almost seven years ago.

Police attached to the Tactical Operations Unit and Dog Unit surrounded a private property near Gloucester just after 12.04am this morning before moving in and apprehending the fugitive.

Naden, 38, was taken to Taree police station a short time later.

He was charged this afternoon with:

■ The murder of 24-year-old Kristy Scholes, who was found dead in the bedroom of a house in Dubbo in June 2005;

■ Two counts of aggravated indecent assault on a 15-year-old girl at Dubbo in 2004;

■ Shoot with intent to murder a police officer at Nowendoc on December 7 2011.

Naden spent less than an hour at Manning Hospital under heavy guard this morning.

He had a wound to his lower left leg restitched before being returned to Taree Police Station.

It is believed he was injured when he was arrested west of Gloucester in the early hours of this morning.

Officers from the Tactical Operations Unit and Dog Unit were sent to a house 30 kilometres west of Gloucester late last night after intelligence was received.

Naden was arrested after midnight following seven years on the run.

Officers surrounded the house and Naden came out briefly, before trying to escape through a back door.

"The police then again confronted him on that side, because we had the building contained, and a short scuffle ensued when he was then arrested," Assistant Police Commissioner Carlene York said.

Naden, who was bitten by a police dog during the arrest, was given a health check before he was taken to be interviewed.

He was taken from Taree Police Station to hospital about mid-morning.