Its Haffner.  No doubt in my mind.  He is very shady.  His timelines from back in the day don't check out.  He was a troubled 17 year old yet he has some fancy looking football trophy in his office.  When did he get this?  When he was a troubled 17 year old going down the wrong path?  When he was in college?  That would be right around the time he was out on the farm with those hippies.  I am guessing all his credentials are fake.  How about when he asked Cho who was smarter??  Haffner or Jane?  Red John has to feel that he is smarter than Jane and it probably is driving him nuts that others think Jane may be smarter.  This is probably why he vowed to start killing again often,  He wants to prove he can outwit Jane.  Look at Haffners eyes.  He has the look of a sneaky nutcase.  As a matter of fact, F Haffner.  I hope Jane kills him!  I HATE HAFFNER!

OKAY EVERYONE !
I'mma say this once and for all : JANE IS NOT RED JOHN. Bruno Heller has confirmed it, Red John is one of the men on Patrick's list.
And also : it wouldn't make any fucking sense !
Geez, to everyone who keeps whining about "this red john thing" :
1. It's the fucking storyline of the show, watch NCIS if you're not interested in it.
2. If you expect the writers to write a good show, then pay some attention, be good viewers ! Use your brains and stop with the stupid theories like LISBON ! I mean, seriously ?!
It's been going on for 5 seasons and it seems you haven't even watched ONE episode !

A note about the writing in blood from episode 1x11 ("Red John's Friends"):

"He is mar" or "He is man". A man dying as he was would be pithy with his comment. If it were a name, he would have written the name, instead. No, he was writing something else:

"He is many."

At this point in the series we only knew of Red John as a serial killer. We did not know it was an entire cult. This message was a hint that this was planned from the beginning.

How else could Red John command the power and influence necessary to carry out his activities? The hint is reinforced by the episode title.

My theory is that Red John is a secret cult within Visualize. It may be that it is considered the highest echelon of Visualize, but more likely it is a splinter group within the organization that recruits from within. There is likely a charismaric leader, and that person is likely not Brett Stiles, and if not then Stiles would know who it is and fear him.

Just a thought : what if Kirkland were a member of one victim's family ? It would make complete sense : he may think that Patrick Jane is Red John and therefore investigating on him, with Bertram. This would explain why his behaviour was so weird during season 5.

Hi all!

I won't tell you who RJ is but I will tell you how you can find him in a simple way without getting involved with the storyline. Finally we'll have our RJ in hand, that's for sure. Let's take another perspective in trying to find out who he might be. In almost all similar scenarios (unknown serial killer), the killer is somehow revealed. It might be a surprise for the audience or just obvious. It doesn't matter. What matters is that the person picked for that role must fit the character which is generated during the run.

You can't expect Kevin Costner to play a cannibal. He has a natural soft face and expressions. Further, he can't make you feel it's alright. What I'm saying is; the actor and the character image drawn must have a harmony/fit like hand and glove. An exact click. Even though most actors and actresses can overcome hard/complicated acts most of the time but when it comes to some psycho-master serial killer, you need someone who can really make that impression. You can play the game of "who could have played this role if it wasn't him?". For instance; try to find an alternative for Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura. Or replace Al Pacino with someone else in The Godfather.

As I can see from the very beginning of the show, the cast-character match goes perfect, precise and intimate. Try to replace Simon Baker for PJ for God's sake! So, the actor to be picked to play RJ can not happen on random selection. Because, if he doesn't get killed by Patrick immediately after being revealed, this means he will have some time in the show. He will talk, do things, etc. Maybe he will get arrested first. We will somehow see him in interaction with other people. But in his true identity. No more hiding...Therefore, whoever he will be, he will have to fill in the bottle of RJ on all aspects. Serial killers after being caught/revealed (as I have seen so far):

a- Act like crazy. Extreme ideas, exaggerated speech, talking nonsense weird stuff
b- Stay calm, joyful and cool until they have no way out but still you can feel his insanity
c- Get absolutely silent like they are not aware of anyone else around them

If you have any other observations, you can add up in your mind. Now the first question is: Which category do you think RJ will fit in? I pick "b". And who would fit into the category "b"? My money is on Partridge or Haffner. Others, even if they try to play that version, there will be a credibility issue.