Who is Red John?

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List of seven

Thomas McAllister
Thomas McAllister
Reede Smith
Reede Smith
Ray Haffner
Ray Haffner
Gale Bertram
Gale Bertram
Brett Partridge
Brett Partridge
Bret Stiles
Bret Stiles
Bob Kirkland
Bob Kirkland

LATEST THEORIES

Theory #2134 • By RedSmiley
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Ok so Robert or Bob Kirkland just killed Lennon and asked him if he recognized him. WTF? Is he Red John? I won't accept him as Red John. And why is he not on the suspect list if he has done this?

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I think it's a CHP officer. They can easily access helicopters, boats, fast cars, and motorcycles to get where they're going quickly all across California, Nevada, and Mexico. Same places red john has killed. I believe the HQ is in Sacramento which is where most of the rjk have happened. Plus Jane shook hands with chp officer O'Donnell and couldn't hypnotize him. For one episode it was all about their interaction. He may be a red herring but I definitely believe it's someone from the California highway patrol who's in with visualize and friends with a lot of cops/FBI in visualize as well. It may even be Bret stiles' son.
P.S. the one who killed Rebecca had a chp uniform on and was in the same holding area O'Donnell was in if I remember correctly.

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   This isn't a theory on who Red John actually is, but I actually think that Teresa Lisbon might be a Red John accomplice. I know this theory is way out there, but imagine what an amazing twist that would be. All the troubles Patrick Jane has gone through trying to catch Red John but fails every time, and it ends up that he hadn't had a chance from the very beginning, or even him knowing she has been part of Red Johns "crew" this whole time! I don't know why I want this to happen so much but I personally think it would be awesome for her to end up being an accomplice of Red John. (Just my opinion please don't be upset with me, and sorry I couldn't find proof to support this. Please don't spoil the show for me I have only seen up to season 5 episode 4. Thanks!)

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I want to say that i realize of something watching every episode again, and i found a person who i think can be RJ, he is dean harken.
I notticed since the first moment he appeared in the show some wear things, the fisrt one, he shook hands with patrick, the second one was he is the only person who calls PJ " patrick" as RJ does not like everybody else who calls him "mr. Jane", dean harken has no photo in his id cdca, i mean if he is the boss in there and someone very important, why he hasn't took that picture.
In one scene he clearly says" i'm gonna call my FBI friends to take care of you" so we noticed he has important friends in there. Also he is in PJ's notebook. And the last one, they didn't like each other since they shook hands, so thats why they didn't become friends.
That's my theory, sorry about my english but i really want to submit my opinion, hope you like it

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I really have no idea who it is.  I am just finishing re-watching every episode for the third time.  Every time I feel like I have an idea, there are several reasons to eliminate that suspect.  The show seems to really like the term "red herring", and I believe that any "obvious" suspect is just that ("a red herring").  My best guess is that the person works within the cbi and is close to Jane.  Not only because it makes sense with the story, but will be good for ratings.  
I also think that Red John is probably the actual leader of Visualize and Brett Stiles is just the poster boy.
 I have a feeling that they may have changed the identity of Red John as the series progressed.  A show never knows how long it will be on the air, so I doubt that the first season gave away too many obvious clues.  I think that the 4th and 5th season probably gives us the most info.  That being said though, I do think that the clues in s4 / s5 (if accurate) will hold true to events that occurred during the beginning of the show.  I think that the shaking hands quote is not literal and is a Red Herring.  I do think Jane knows Red John, because Red John would find that amusing.
Brett Partridge fits a lot of the molds and clues, but it does not make good writing sense.  I find it hard to believe that they would make a crime scene investigator the killer.  It follows Dexter too closely and doesn't make for creative writing.
Kirkland is too obvious.
Any of the inner circle would be too far of a stretch.
I have considered Ron for quite a while.  I find that he is a good bet.  There is nothing too obvious and a lot of speculation, but the speculation makes sense in several instances.  He is a Waldo character.  Ron, however, has always had a beard and Rossalind never mentions a beard in her description.  The main problem I have with Ron is the fact that he is so awkward.  I think that the actor who plays Ron struggles.  I find it hard to believe that the will cast Ron as Red John because I think he is going to have to do some serious acting in the final season.
Like I said, I am no farther ahead after watching The Mentalist 300+ times.  All I know is that I will be sad when its done.......but I am still dying to know.  Please just don't fade to black like Sopranos. 

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Robert Kirkland is RJ. Why? First I would like to say why Patrick isn't. Simply, because Lorelei said "the moment you two shook hands". She knew both of them and she knew he is someone else.
For the very same reason, it has to be someone who shook his hand with Jane.
Kirkland did it. Kirkland also was the one who said "thank you" on the end of the episode showed us Patrick's beggining in the CBI.
And after the very last episode: Kirkland is a murderer, a one who have done this before and murdered because he was afraid to be identified. As who? As Red John, of course!
How is Brett Styles getting into the picture? I would speculate he might even be related to Kirkland. His father, maybe. This is the reason why he knew about what RJ is about to do but didn't handed him to CBI.

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Theory #2118 • By lizbunzhot
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1. PJ is RJ or has an ego that wants to merge with him. RJ killed PJ family to lead him into despair seeking revenge which will bring out his dark side making it easier to merge.
2. RJ has followers that protect him and leave PJ hints that he's RJ. Bp saving Jane and saying the tiger tiger poem is one example. Also the man at the RJ hideout watching on the monitor was there to protect pj/RJ to ensure he's safe. PJ was in his RJ mode and checked the door to make sure it was locked so he wouldn't get caught. The guy at the blind ladies house was an enforcer ensuring the she called the CBI about the morgue attendant that way they would see RJ killed while they were with PJ and wouldn't blow his cover. She also acted as if she didn't know PJ to ensure this as well.
3. PJ/RJ "killed" KF because she talked to his wife and he didn't want it getting out he killed his family. This would explain why his wife wasn't in the hallucination after PJ drunk the tea because she would know he killed her but his daughter was asleep so she was clueless thus safe in PJ's subconscious.

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