I believe that Bertram is Red John.
Bruno Heller said that the list was real. Technically, Patrick only named one person on his list and that was Bertam (when he was talking to Lisbon in the car). The rest of the list, albeit from PJ's pictures, were read by Red John....so that is Red John's list, not PJ's. Meaning that Bertram was the only one cleverly mentioned straight from PJ.
Just my theory....
In my opinion Red John is not one person alone rather a group of people ie.something like a terrorist organisation.The level of ingenuity,the planning behind every homicide is so precise and perfect.This is not something that can be accomplished by one person alone.
Although many people throughout the show they have been referred to as "Red John's Friends".They are just people who have this collective motive of killing people and bringing about terror!
Check out the most plausible theory on the website
http://www.whoisredjohn.com/See-a-theory-Red-John/2100
Apparently name definitions are very important to Bruno Heller. Check out this interview question answered by the creator himself:
"Q: Can you tell us why The Mentalist's name is Patrick Jane?
BH: Hello! This is the first time that someone asks me this question, and this needs to be developed. Primarily, Patrick is a good old Irish name and I adore it. Moreover, his surname -Jane- is a woman's name, an aspect that I wanted to sneak in his identity, because his personality is gracious and seductive. Lastly, in English, Jane is pronounced "jaine", like an ascetic religion that extol the virtues of the
nonviolence. The Mentalist likes better other tools to reach his goals."
After looking up all the definitions for all 7 men on the list, only Gale Bertram's was of any significance:
Gale = strong wind (denotes mystery, elusiveness, and of course strength)
Bertram = "The name Bertram comes from the Germanic name Bertram, which is composed of the elements berht, meaning "bright" or "famous," and hrabn, meaning "raven." So basically a dark, brilliant, and famous creature--not to mention the notorious reputation of ravens in our culture.
As for all you pinning the red on Bret Partridge. Would Bruno Heller name Red John after a "plump game bird"?
PS: Check out the creepy music tone with the picture of Gale Bertram on the wall at the very end of the episode "If it bleeds, it leads" (Season 5, Episode 7) when Patrick exits with tea in hand. It illustrates perfectly how Bertram, like a raven on his perch, has his eye on everybody's back, from a position of prestige, advantage, and control.
Dexter Morgan is R.J. Patrik will get Dexter and both shows will end simultaneously........
I know, I know.... far from the truth, but wouldn't it be nice ?
Z.
THE LIST IS FAKE.
I'll explain why.
Patrick mentions the number of people he's met and shaken hands with since his wife and child were killed in 2 episodes: The Red Barn and Red John's Rules. And the numbers don't match.
In The Red Barn, he says he's met and shaken hands with 2164 people since Red John murdered his family, whereas in Red John's Rules, he says he's met and shaken hands with 1357 people since the killing. Rewatch the episodes and see for yourself!
Patrick is well known for having a great memory, so he couldn't have just messed up the number by about 800 people. He and Bruno Heller are full of crap (as usual): the list he made is fake and probably just a decoy to drive Lisbon off, since he knows she's not good at lying and he probably wants to protect her - the other possibility would be because he doesn't trust her and this is all part of a plan to fool RJ himself too (read the fake list theories here for a much better explanation than mine). I'm 100% sure he made up numbers out of the blue to make Lisbon think he was being extremely precise, when he actually was just putting an act.
Remember what happened when the LaRoche tupperware situation. He had no idea LaRoche even kept a tupperware in his safe. He was bluffing.
This is exactly why we can't trust anything Heller says!
I believe the REAL list is the one we saw in Black Cherry (S05E09), pictured here: http://i.imgur.com/365SVvV.png
According to Bruno, the list is legit. But there's something that doesn't make sense about the seven suspects. Jane is someone who has an eye out for everything. He catches things that others don't see and always find a loop hole in a case which leads him to identify the murderer. What I can't wrap my head around is, all the clues that have been dropped throughout the seasons, how did he come up with this list?
In the episode where the Sheriff turned out to be working for RJ and says that him and his dad were friends which indicates he's somewhat older. How does that fit Partridge for example?
According to evidence, RJ may have been part of visualize, and trying to get the age right, it rules out Gales and Stiles.
Something isn't adding up and I'm not sure what it is. But these clues, are things that Jane would not be that dumb to make a mistake in judgment of the suspects. He's far too smart to make a mistake or oversee a detail. Especially with this RJ, he would we would be 1000% (yes thousand) sure before coming up with his final list.
So is Bruno stringing us along? Are there other suspects? Is the list legit? I'd hate to think that the writers fumbled and were not cautious with how it all add up. Also would hate to think that some clues were false to throw us off track. That would suck.
If I had to guess, my bet would be partridge but because of the sheriff's dad and RJ who were friends, I don't think so because the age doesn't fit.
I love how it's really making us think!