Well, I think the first two were killed on sight. Nuke the site from orbit -- only way to be sure.
And I think the deaths were always part of the plan. At the outset, the plotters threatened to kill the three families -- or at least bluffed that they would -- either way, as soon as they did that, there was no going back. Imagine if they went through with their fakery, and brought the three astronauts back alive, and then one or more of the men decided to trade his career and reputation for the need to tell the truth? There would have been a massive public meltdown. The plotters simply couldn't take that chance, if only in the interests of self-preservation.
So they had to fake the landing and the nearly-getting-home, to make the program look like a near-success and justify further funding. But killing the three astronauts was the only way to guarantee that the word would never get out about the plot. (No doubt the few involved in the actual photography were quietly disappeared as well.) So I think the heat-shield failure was always planned; it was a credible way to contain the chance of exposure without bringing the mission into technical disrepute. The plotters' one big mistake (without which the movie wouldn't have had a Third Act, natch) was in not killing the astronauts immediately, once the heat-shield had "failed".
As for the fugitive astronauts, the safest, most reliable course of action was to kill each one separately, as soon as he was found. And presumably, hide them in the desert and leave predators to dispose of the remains. Take their suits, probably, and any identifying personal effects; maybe cut off their hands and heads. Far less risky than carting bodies with them, whether alive or dead, and completely deniable should anything go wrong.
tl;dr : Kill tham! Kill them all!!!
You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.
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