Nearly a month after he was released from the Douglas County Jail on a court-approved, one-day furlough, James N. Williams still hasn’t returned.

Williams, 46, failed to show up Friday in Douglas County District Court, where he was to be sentenced for obstruction of justice in the investigation of a murder case.

Judge Paula Martin, who had approved Williams’ one-day release, had already issued a bench warrant for his arrest after he failed to return to jail Jan. 11.

Williams wanted a furlough to see a girlfriend in a hospital. He had pleaded guilty to obstruction in the Douglas County sheriff’s investigation of the Anthony Vital murder case. In October, Vital’s body was found west of Lawrence. Several people face charges in connection with the case, though nobody has been charged with murder.

In court Friday, Williams’ attorney, Andrew Piekalkiewicz, told Martin he had not heard from his client.