The four border guards involved at the time at first obtained an award (Leistungsabzeichen der Grenztruppen) from the chief of the Grenzkommandos Mitte border guards, Erich Wöllner, and a prize of 150 East German Marks each. However, after the reunification of East and West Germany, they were prosecuted by the Berlin regional court. Two of the former border guards, Mike Schmidt (now a millwright with two children), and Peter Schmett (now an electrician with three children), were acquitted and released in January 1992, because the presiding judge, Theodor Seidel, ruled that they "did not kill and did not intend to kill".