How about this, Patrick Jane has made his suspect list from what Lorelei Martins said about him having shook Red John's hands.
Then on season 5's finale, we see Lorelei Martins in a video reading Jane's list of suspect. The video was made before Jane revealed his suspect list to anyone.

My theory on how he has done it is forcing. Similar to a magic trick where the magician holds a pinky break and tell the the participant to say stop wherever he wants when in reality, it has already been decided.

As Patrick has told Sam Bosco:""Red John doesn't make mistakes. He doesn't leave clues. If you have
new evidence, it's because he wants you to have it. The question isn't
'What does it mean?'; it's 'Why did he give it to you?'"

Lorelei Martins was given to Patrick to trick him, to lead him to an outcome that Red John already decided.

So my theory is Red John is not on the list itself or Ray Haffner is Red John.

In season 1 episode 11, Red John hacked into CBI's secure network. It means Red John is technologically competent and one of Ray Haffner's skill is surveillance & it has to be someone who has worked or working in the CBI to know the vulnerabilities of the system itself.

What do you guys think?

I'm not over thinking here or trying to be smart. Right or wrong (and probably wrong), this is just the rollout I like best.

I want it to be Mashburn. And while I'm choosing my own adventure, why not Mashburn as RJ with a showman's twist?

Something like: Mashburn is Kirkland's long-lost twin who has had a decent amount of plastic surgery. RJ didn't take Michael Kirkland in, Michael became RJ. Maybe it was Visualize that gave Michael Kirkland the vision and oomph to re-imagine himself, but it was certainly his abusive father who wiped the empathy right out of him and made him a sociopath.

To stretch things, this scenario actually kind of, sort of works with the current list if you allow that Kirkland can be a placeholder for his twin. 

And why isn't Walter Mashburn on the list, btw? This is the dude that let Jane drive his car blindfolded. That takes a whole lot of faith. You have to be competitive and willing to die to get into the car and hand over your keys in that situation. Mashburn didn't even blink or hesitate. He's too curious and fascinated not to because Jane is his sociopath-crush. 

Loralei says that she was shocked that Jane and RJ didn't hit it off when they met, and don't Mashburn and Jane seem like they would be the types to chill together? They have everything in common--from clothes to peacocking cars to egos to attitudes on Jane's party tricks. Women who are attracted to Mashburn would also be attracted to Jane and vice versa. 

Mashburn is also the only one who seems like a man who could have Loralei as a devoted groupee. I see her following Mashburn. No one else really works with Loralei… or seems like they would use a limo service for a meeting.

Also, the name Walter means: Ruler of the Army. Fun coincidence, or clue in plain sight.

Regardless, RJ seems to have a twin fetish. That would make sense if he was a twin himself. Plus he fits every requirement and matches every description.

Chances of this being the big reveal probably sit somewhere around 1%, but that doesn't mean I don't have to like it…even at those odds.

If you agree that Mashburn should be on the list, go ahead and hit plausible.

A little tid bit...one of the major power struggles on the show is custody of lorelei. Bertram wants custody, but only jane is able to deceive the judge into keeping her. When they go to get her, she is gone. Hence, bertram is not rj, but that does tell us something...RJ has a connection inside a federal prison or directly within the fbi that is higher up than smith/o'laughlin