There's no reason to believe that any of the descriptive evidence that we've seen so far is accurate.
Why? Because all of it is based on the assumption that the person described was actually Red John. The thing is, we've never actually seen Red John do anything at all. We've seen his disciples do a number of things on his behalf; what makes any of the situations that brought us the "clues" that we have any different?
Let's not forget that Jane killed a fake Red John already. The imposter was so convincing - from the details of Jane's family's murder to the call from O'Laughlin's phone - that Jane shot him, actually thinking in the moment that he had Red John in front of him.
So, doesn't that call into question everything from the relationship with Rosalind Harker to the three dot tattoos? And since we now know that more than one character has the three dots, doesn't that suggest that a disciple, and not necessarily Red John, hired the detective? What evidence do we have that it was Red John that personally sought the information about Jane from his doctor?
Incidentally, the detective and the doctor both ended up murdered (or left for dead in the case of the detective), but they weren't killed in typical Red John fashion. One beaten, one beheaded - no smiley faces. They were killed, like so many others, rather unceremoniously - just like everyone that could have provided information about Red John and his organization.
For the sake of keeping it simple - Red John runs a vast, well-connected cult, Bret Stiles runs Visualize, a vast, well-connected cult. it's not really a heavy lift.
In case that's not enough, here's a few more reasons why Stiles is the most logic suspect:
- It doesn't make much sense for Red John to punch a clock. A day job means responsibilities and obligations that would be unavoidable. With a legion of followers to command and a lot of fairly complex projects in the works, regular employment doesn't seem viable.
- Visualize has the means and resources to easily assemble a vast network of insiders throughout all levels of law enforcement, from local, to state, to federal. A member of any single law enforcement agency would have far too stunted a reach to recruit in the other agencies.
- Kirkland's brother apparently got help with his drinking from Red John; Visualize is a self help-esque organization that specializes is things like that.
- according to Haffner, Stiles has Visualize members study Jane (suggesting that he has some kind of psychological insight), which raises the question of what they're being taught and how that information was gained (for example, might he have gleaned some information from Jane's psychiatrist?).
- the episode that Stiles and Visualize are introduced in was called "Red All Over" (probably the least persuasive argument, but possibly suggestive).
and lastly, but in some respects most importantly:
- Malcolm McDowell is a legend. If you created a show that was to culminate in the revelation of a mastermind, serial killer after several years of close calls and red herrings, wouldn't you jump at the chance to make that killer be the guy from A Clockwork Orange?
