Well, i will not argue too much, this puzzle is a bit messy with false leads...

But IMO, if i were the author i will put RJ in the Pilot. Its like look bastards, you don't catch but he was there from the first episode.

That guy is Brett Partridge he was on first episode...He is not dead at all, its fake, we dind't see the body...
Who is dead is Partridge, but RJ is still awake, inside him.

And always is the forensics experts (like Dexter)... Its the only one, who can cover his tracks.

I betting on him from the beggining, is not now that i will give up.

Brett Partridge is Red John!

Jane says he finds Partridge 'Irksome'. This is Jane using his using his amazing intuition. His deceased psychologist made a similar comment about Red John. Think about that.

There are at least three scenes in this series where the screen shot shows Jane and Partridge in a standoff, sizing each other up. NO other suspect on the list of seven has been given this full screen treatment. It's not an accident.

Let me draw a map:

William Blake:
Tiger, Tiger
Embrace of Partridge
The Great Red Dragon

The Great Red Dragon:
The Beast that comes up out of the sea.(on the wall in the house where partridge was "murdered" was 666, the mark of the beast)
In the Bible, the Red Dragon has seven heads (seven suspects) one of which is killed, only to be resurrected again.

The Mentalist Connections:
Embrace of Partridge: Brett Partridge
The Great Red Dragon: Title of episode seven, season six.
Tiger, Tiger: Poem recited by Red John which holds some significance. Written By WIlliam Blake, artist responsible for the two paintings mentioned before.

 
Brett Partridge is the first head that was slayed, in the end he will be resurrected.

This is my first post I have done like everyone else and looked for clues inside of everything and I really like how far people go with their theories so I'll throw my stuff out there too.  First I always go back to that episode "Red Johns Friends" where Renfrew was killed and written in blood was "he is mar" or could have been "he is man" Well this list is very important because what if what he meant to say was he is many because you have all of them conspiring together except for Haffner, Partridge, and Stiles.  I don't think Partridge is dead I think Red John would do something like that to change the game to try and gain back the element of surprise if Jane thinks he is dead he won't be expecting him also Lisbon said that he said Tyger Tyger and the only people to say that have been red john and the killer that worked for red john so why would Partridge say it and Jane blew it off quickly when Lisbon said it I also have the theory it could be a trigger word for being hypnotized.  Now finally one last thing if it was "he is mar" mar is an abbreviation for master arts in religion.  Well there is just some of my crazy ideas I think its still Partridge.

No amount of looking for clues in the show will reveal who red john is.  In order to figure out who RJ is, one must think like Bruno.  Its Bruno's Role to not give away who RJ is, and for us to feel like detectives.  The question is.....If you where Bruno who would you want to be Red John?  Additionally, when the show ends the creators will still want people to purhase the DVD's so its imperative in my opinion that the entire catalog of the mentalist tells a tale, just like william blakes poem.  I believe when we get to the end of the show, the entire work will reflect an entire idea, a philosophy.  I think something much more important will be revealed about Patrick and his journey of revenge.  Like in life, its never about the destination its about the journey.  It would be so cool, if PJ is actually in a mental asylum telling his story and a new series starts from there.

You guys that think that red john is an alternate personality to patrick jane , you are forgetting that redjohn killed people BEFORE killing patricks family , and also , the only reason he did it was because patrick talked about him on tv , and about being an effect of his breakdown , his breakdown was BECAUSE of the killing of his family by Red John
my true theory tough is a whole net where there are 2 arms of red john , where 1 is vizualize and all under it , while the other is the fbi and cbi agents 
on the vizualize side Stiles knows RJ , rafner is a pure follower of stiles , doest not know red john
on the fbi/cbi side bob kirkland is submitted to some woman that knows red john (as we see in a flashback in a limo) and under bob comes the little 3 way network that we see in the 6x02 ( bertram reed and mcalister)
PLEASE POINT FLAWS

Is it at all possible that Brett Partridge is Red John, and still be dead? Like, someone else looking for revenge got to him first?