In mid-March 1933, the Berlin police arrested Max Thunert, one of the lookouts in the murders of Captains Anlauf and Lenck.
Within days, fifteen other conspirators were in police custody.
On September 14, 1933, Berlin newspapers reported that all fifteen had confessed to their roles in the murders.
Arrest warrants were issued for ten other conspirators who had fled, including Mielke, Ziemer, Ulbricht, Kippenberger, and Neumann.

In response to claims that the confessions were obtained under torture by the Nazi Gestapo, John Koehler wrote, "However, all suspects were in the custody of the regular Berlin city criminal investigation bureau, most of whose detectives were SPD members.
Some of the suspects had been nabbed by Nazi SA men and probably beaten before they were turned over to police.
In the 1993 trial of Mielke, the court gave the defense the benefit of the doubt and threw out a number of suspect confessions."

On 19 June 1934, the 15 conspirators were convicted of first degree murder.
The three deemed most culpable, Michael Klause, Max Matern, and Friedrich Bröde were sentenced to death.
Their co-defendants received sentences ranging from nine months to fifteen years incarceration at hard labor.
Klause's sentence was commuted to life in prison based upon his cooperation.
Bröde hanged himself in his cell.
As a result, only Matern was left to be executed by beheading on 22 May 1935.
In mid-March 1933, the Berlin police arrested Max Thunert, one of the lookouts in the murders of Captains Anlauf and Lenck. Within days, fifteen other conspirators were in police custody. On September 14, 1933, Berlin newspapers reported that all fifteen had confessed to their roles in the murders. Arrest warrants were issued for ten other conspirators who had fled, including Mielke, Ziemer, Ulbricht, Kippenberger, and Neumann.
In response to claims that the confessions were obtained under torture by the Nazi Gestapo, John Koehler wrote, "However, all suspects were in the custody of the regular Berlin city criminal investigation bureau, most of whose detectives were SPD members. Some of the suspects had been nabbed by Nazi SA men and probably beaten before they were turned over to police. In the 1993 trial of Mielke, the court gave the defense the benefit of the doubt and threw out a number of suspect confessions."
On 19 June 1934, the 15 conspirators were convicted of first degree murder. The three deemed most culpable, Michael Klause, Max Matern, and Friedrich Bröde were sentenced to death. Their co-defendants received sentences ranging from nine months to fifteen years incarceration at hard labor. Klause's sentence was commuted to life in prison based upon his cooperation. Bröde hanged himself in his cell. As a result, only Matern was left to be executed by beheading on 22 May 1935.
Hans Kippenberger