So I've been voting the Sheriff a lot, and I still think he makes the most sense.  However, something has been lingering in the back of my mind for a while.  As Kira Tinsley lay dying, she uses her last moments to tell Jane her attacker had a tattoo with three dots on his left arm.  She uses her own blood to demonstrate the dots on her shoulder.

Here's what bugs me... she painted the dots vertically.  When McAllister, Reede and Bertram reveal their tattoos, they are in a horizontal line.  But according Kira, the three dots are in a vertical line.  

On that same note, did anyone notice that Haffner didn't reveal his whole shoulder to Jane?  He's the only one who doesn't.  The front half of his shoulder shows and the shirt covers the rest.  It could easily be covering three vertical dots.  I wonder if RJ might have a slight variation on the TIger, Tiger tattoo to demonstrate his higher authority.

Just a thought :)

I love this forum and all the theories about Red John....In fact I am quite addicted to it...and I have to say many of the contributors have presented reveals that would make for awesome endings to the Red John saga ...

I, myself have built some cases, and accused Ray Haffner and Reede Smith of being the serial killer ...

... but I'm afraid I have framed two innocent men ( well sort of innocent )...

I have found the real killer ...

The serial killer known as Red John is ( drum roll ) Sheriff Thomas McAllister....final answer...

Why McAllister ?

Well, the reason might seem absurd ... but it's because there is nothing linking him to Red John murders .... That's right ... He's Red John because there is no evidence against him ...

( Huhhhh???)

Remember when the seven suspects were first revealed...It was Bob Kirkland ( check ), Brett Partridge ( check ), Ray Haffner ( check ), Sheriff Tom McAlistar ( wtf - Who ???? ) ...  .  Didn't you have to check IMDB just to remember who the this guy was ? He is a character completely off the radar ... Someone you might think was just there to pad out the list of seven ...

But the more you think about it ... Would Red John ever admit to being in Visualize ( Haffner ) .... would he ever quote Tyger Tyger ( Bertram ) ... would he ever do anything to draw attention to himself as a suspect ?

Never ...

" Red John never makes mistakes " ... and this is from Red John expert, and investigative genius Patrick Jane ... If Red John had made any mistakes at any time Patrick would have caught him ... Patrick is never fooled ... A little glance or a misspoken word is enough for him to crack a case ... but Red John never does anything, ever, that points to his real identity ...

How would a man like that look ?

Like an anonymous nobody ... maybe like a small town Sheriff with a room temperature IQ ...

Keyser Soze said " The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist " ...

Red John's greatest trick is the world doesn't even think of him as a possibility as Red John ... In fact the world doesn't think of him at all ...

If Red John hadn't made the sole mistake of revealing his meeting with Jane ... If the list of seven had not been deduced ... but Red John was about to be caught ... all the other six on the list would still be suspects  ...

But 99 % of viewers wouldn't even remember who McAllistar was ... In fact, it's fair to say, Jane himself would barely remember him ...

Just the way Red John would want it ...


That's it ... No more theories from me ... just going to read other peoples ... keep them coming they're great ...

( PS Brett Partridge helped him somehow ... Is he sometimes a proxy? Is it his voice used when Red John talks ? )

let's discuss things that need to be explained, but have not yet: Lorelei's attempt to kill Rj and how he killed her insteadWhat happened to Kristina Frye and how are RJ-Stiles-Patrick-Frye all interconnectedFootball connection: Van Pelt's dad, haffner, o'loughlin, roll tide, does it mean anything?"He is ma" - Heisman, many, married, marked, Ellis Mars (el es Mars, he is Mar), etc. Brett Partridge - my strongest theory is that he staged EVERY red john murder we have seen during the entire show. He fooled Patrick almost every time. Partridge is a part of Tyger, Tyger. He cleans up their mess. RJ kills him first bc he is insulted by him, bc tyger, tyger has framed him for many murders to try and catch him. Thoughts?Did Minelli start Tyger, Tyger?Have we been seeing two Kirklands or just one? It is clear, despite what Jane says about her being the most honest person he knows, that she is not. She lied for Boscoe when he killed a man, lied for jane about red john being dead, lied for jane when he helped lorelei escape, continues to give all the information Patrick gives her to others, even when she promises not to. Is Lisbon part of Tyger, tyger, working for red john, or in love with Jane?How does Stiles know RJ? Father/son, Mentor/mentee, etc?Why is their a recurring theme amongst so many characters with troubled past? Kirkland, Jane, Lisbon, Haffner, Van Pelt, Lorelei and her sister, Cho? On a show with maybe 20 characters that matter, half of them have childhood issues and almost every single one ended up in law enforcement.Why don't we know anything about Jane's mom?Why have we not heard anything about Lisbon's brother James? How the heck does Sean Barlow know Red John? And my most significant question...is it possible that Red John did not commit ANY of the murders on the show other than Eileen Barlow, Partridge and Sophie Miller? I am starting to believe that tyger, tyger blamed RJ for every murder using Partridge to stage scenes. I think he killed the people in the barn, and Jane's family, then may not have killed anyone else until just recently when it was necessary.