From you link, it looks like this resident did not violate hipaa:
“The provisions where a covered entity can disclose the PHI of a deceased individual include the following:
(1) to alert law enforcement to the death of the individual, when there is a suspicion that death resulted from criminal conduct “
Yes. They can tell law enforcement; in many cases there is a duty to report. But that is to LEOs, not newspapers.
Is BoardNet a law enforcement organization?