Not much of an epitaph

I don't mind headlinese per se, but some practitioners are better at
it than others. I was taken aback just now by this headline at BBC
News:

Botched op footballer's wife dies
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/8144551.stm

Not only is it poorly formed, its tone seems disrespectful.

I notice that their previous story on this topic had the headline:

Ex-footballer wife's health blow
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/8074102.stm

I presume the writer didn't like the look of two possessives in a
row...