My theory is that red john is ray haffner. I dont think red john works alone, he has at least one accomplice in the list of 7 (or now 6), but red john himself is haffner and here is why i think so.
He meets the physical description given by rosalind ( he is slightly over 6 feet and i know rosalind said red john was just under 6 feet but how could a blind woman know the exact height of a person?. So red john is 6 feet, give or take.
His age also makes him old enough to be red john. He is old enough to have been at the red barn in the visualize farm in 1988 (this will be important later).
Talking about visualize, he is a member of the cult, which would explain some of red johns contacts, specially bret stiles. Because bret stiles seems to know a lot about red john meaning that red john would very well be a member of visualize and stiles has to protect and help him. Him being a member of visualize would also link him to the red barn in 1988 because that was a visualize farm.
And lets remember his statements to lisbon. He said that as a teen he was troubled but then visualize took him in and helped him. Him being troubled as a teen could mean that he is really a psycopath and killed those people in the barn back in 1988 and went to visualize for help or something along those lines. Or visualize covering up for his murders since he was a member.
Lets not forget that when lisbon says he suspects him of being in the barn in 1988 he just shrugs it off and walks away. To protect visualize or to protect himself??.
Getting on to his job, he formerly worked with the FBI which would explain red johns high ranking contacts, ( Robert Kirkland maybe?, i most surely think he is an accomplice of red john, he works for homeland security after all, and had a friend in the FBI Alexa Schultz).
He also worked in the CBI which would explain red johns contacts in the CBI and tie him to bertram, who i think could be another accomplice of RJ. It would also explain how red john was able to be ahead of jane always and kill that woman inside the CBI building who was going to confess about RJ.
He used to work in the FBI in the organized crime division, and is an expert in wiretraps and surveillance techniques (according to the mentalist wikia). This would explain so many things as how red john knows so much and is ahead of every move the cbi team make. Or how he is impossible to catch. This could also explain why he knew lisbon had hacked the phones and therefore set her up with partridge.
To end this, his relationship with lisbon. He now works as a private detective (gives him more freedom to act i guess) and offers lisbon the job beside him, with a pay raise etc. I noticed he gets very angry when she refuses, because she says she cant leave jane. He seems like jealous that lisbon prefers jane over him. Yes, i think haffner aka red john has some feelings for lisbon and thats why he hasnt killed her yet, he has only captured her. He wants jane to act now.
