Only the 2nd episode of the season and it seems 90% say it's Haffner.  This is the exact reason why I am saying it's  NOT!

There where SO many red herrings thrown out there last night that were so FREAKIN' obvious that they were laughable!  Most of them were the words and actions of the 6 remaining suspects.  Heller would NEVER be so transparent to make Haffner  act that way so early in the show.  It's obvious that Bertram, MacAllister, Reede and Kirkland are planning something of their own that may or MAY NOT be considered a Red John cover-up.  My guess is Red John is watching THEM and Jane knows it.  This is why he is following them so closely and why he told Lisbon they were the suspects.  He now has the entire team focused on them so he can venture out further while keeping tabs on the others.

Odd things I noticed:

1.  Pigeons (again)  the camera made a distinct pan across them as the person was feeding them by the bench.  (We saw them last week in the house where Lisbon was attacked.

2.  Why did no one mention the CIRCUS-type smiley face that was painted on Lisbon? (btw,  a REAL forensic team would have Jane's head for taking that evidence!!)

3.  Okay sure, the Jay Roth (re: Red) sounds very convincing but didn't you hear the other name before that?  WASHBURN?  Hello?  MASHBURN!!!!    Listen to the description she is describing for this Jay Roth person.  It could be Mashburn!   I could see Mashburn using the name Jay Roth as a client but planting a fake client to use the name Washburn knowing Jane would eventually find the list. I didn't put Mashburn's pic in the suspects accusation photo knowing many of you would immediately vote this "unlikely."   Sue me.  I like a little drama.  ;)

Theories are based off memory and the belief that the list holds true.

Let’s begin by eliminating two suspects:

Brett Partridge
He was murdered by Red John and confirmed by Bruno Heller in an interview
to be dead.


However, this leaves us with two major questions.

1) Why was he killed?

I’d prefer to think of it as Heller killing him rather than Red John killing
him. Partridge was the number one suspect for a majority of people, such a plot twist
would leave us scrambling to reason out a new favourite suspect and it makes
for a more thrilling story.

2) Why did he say ‘tyger, tyger’?

He was hypnotized by Red John and Lisbon opening the door was the trigger (I believe
RJ also hypnotized Kristina Frye into thinking she is dead), he promised to say
it to avoid further torture and the third reason I’ll explain further down.

 
Bob Kirkland

He had homeland security agents break into Jane’s room to steal information on
RJ. This occurred several episodes after Lorelei was found murdered therefore
RJ knew who the 7 suspects PJ would narrow down to very early on.


Remaining questions:  Why does he want to
be kept in the loop on the RJ case? Why did he steal PJ’s info? Why did he
murder Jason Lennon and asked do you recognize me before doing so?

My theory is that he, like Patrick Jane, is looking for revenge. I believe RJ
murdered Kirkland’s family decades ago while he was in the house, most likely
hiding and at some point made eye contact with Lennon. But unlike PJ he isn’t smart
enough to figure it out on his own. To further my theory on Kirkland, I think
Heller + writers made him a homeland security agent to mean protector of his
home (to make up for something he couldn’t do when he was younger when RJ
murdered his family). And the synopsis for season 6 episode 4 reads: Jane
reveals that a list of fake RJ suspects he planted was stolen and the team
realizes these men are in danger.

Assuming
Rosalind Harker’s description of RJ is reliable we can quickly eliminate three
more suspects
Bertram: too bald
Stiles: too old
Smith: too chubby


Leaving…
Haffner: Visualize connection, more
physically capable
McAllister:
still a mystery so good writing potential, has a more mature/leader-like look

Both of whom were whistling in episode 2.
But
I’m sure these two suspects are exactly who Heller wants the audience to
have as their number one picks before pulling another twist. We are merely
puppets to him.


A popular theory is that more than one of the suspects is ‘RJ’. For my version
of the theory I think Bertram, Stiles, Smith, Haffner, McAllister and even
Partridge are RJ. Partridge was the one who saved PJ from the copycat murderers
which explains his connection to “The Tyger”. He sacrificed himself to ensure
the survival of RJ by attempting to throw off PJ. Bertram, Smith, Haffner and
McAllister can all manipulate law enforcers, investigations and evidence (three
of whom we see suspiciously chattin’ it up in episode 2) and Stiles is the
recruiter for disciples. So perhaps Jared Renfrew was trying to write ‘He is
many’ before he died.  However, this
theory is somewhat anticlimactic so I prefer the RJ is just one person theory.

I still think it is Haffner, on probability, but check out the Canadian promo for next week's episode:

http://www.spoilertv.com/2013/10/the-mentalist-episode-603-wedding-in_6991.html

"He is an excellent whistler" Dr.Sophie Miller