RED JOHN: Tyger Tyger, burning bright 
                     in the forests of the night
                     what immortal hand or eye
                     could frame thy fearful symmetry 

PATRICK JANE (different episode): When you see the face you feel fear!

What am I saying, well notice the final line of the poem 'FEARFUL SYMMETRY'. How about this, if the face represents fear then 'symmetry' symbolises the general symmetry of the face e.g. the circular motion of the face. Then note the third line of the poem spoken by Red John, where the words immortal hand are used. This basically suggests that all though Red John is not immortal the smiley face and the fear he will leave behind long after his death will be immortal. And the word hand means of course the hand he uses to craft the face. 
The key word in the poem is SYMMETRY. Now this is the important bit, in the Pilot episode when we are first introduced to Brett Partridge he talks about the crime scene, but it is not his words that are important it is his action and the camera shot that are the important part. The camera is placed directly behind him and focuses on his hand as he uses three fingers to imitate the outline of the face on the wall. Brett uses three fingers to represent the perfect SYMMETRY of the Red John smiley face.
So in conclusion Patrick says when you see the face you feel FEAR, and Brett uses perfect SYMMETRY of his fingers to represent the face. Thus being FEARFUL SYMMETRY. 

I guess Brett Patridge is Red John.
- Many people are saying that Red John must have appeared since Season 1 and that he has to be one of the "three main characters". Brett appears at the first episode.
- Also, many people say that Brett always appears to "mask" Red John cases.
- His voice is very similar to Red John's voice at 2x23. 
- PJ always says that Brett is a ghoul. I'm sure PJ hates Brett. Then they aren't friends. Lorelei said that PJ and RJ aren't friends.
- Brett, in fact, is really smart (he just pretend he isn't). They say that equal people hate each other and the opposite attract. PJ hates Brett because he is just like him. Lorelei also said that PJ and RJ are very similar. 
- At 5x15, Brett talks about the "human torch". Possibly, it's the same trick that RJ used at 3x09.
- And at last, RJ is a thin and agile person (see 2x23) then he can't be someone like Minelli that is a little overweight and old (no offense to the actor).

The question is if Brett has a connection with Visualize, it would be the last evidence. Well, people say that PJ and Brett shook hands "offscreen", but I'm not sure of that. If they didn't, Brett can't be RJ. Sorry about my english, it's not my native language =(

Brett Partridge is definitely Red John, when you see this picture, you will agree with me....

in season2episode8, jane thinks of the murder of janet peak, and in this scene you can definitely see Brett Partridge's face - as Red John!


https://www.google.at/search?hl=de&q=janet%20peak%20brett%20partridge&psj=1&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&b...

Many interesting theory on several charachter.
I think that Partridge has a lot of chance to be Red John. His voice is RJ's voice and his cultural references are important (A Brace of Partridge by Blake). I've report the facts and some deductions. We know some characteristic of RJ. I think, instead, that Kirkland investigate on RJ's powerful friends in FBI, and relationship of RJ with politicians and other powerful people, that put in danger the security of the Nation of USA.

Well.

Profile of Brett Partridge as RJ:

1.white male
2.mid-30s in 2003-40s now
3.just under 6'00' tall
4.medium build
5.works for CBI
6.speaks a little Spanish (link: possible he knows Tijuana's street/ Partridge said: que pasa dude?)
7.arson expert (talking very well on pretended "spontaneous combustion"; remember Todd Johnson)
8.socially awkward, especially around "normal" (not psychopaths) women (nervous with Lisbon, in Pilot, he touch many times his necktie)
9.forensics boss
10."Totally macabre", he love horror and blood
11. "Handled RJ cases"
12. He dislike PJ
13. Theatrical "appearance" and behaviour (it's his normal behaviour, but maybe he accentuates it to look a little clever, like the killer guy in the 1x09.
14 A little speech impediment (some letters: s, c, etc.)
15 graduate (biology or criminology, or forensic anthropology) and cultured (known literature: Dickens, Melville's Moby Dick)

Possible (theory and hypothesis/deductions, not sure facts)
1. Problem with his mother
2. Possible former Visualize?
3. RJ seems causes "shivers" and unlike feeling to the Prestons (mother and daughter in Red Barn) and the priest, and the house of Vogelsong the same to Lisbon, and also Jane, that don't believe in superstition. It seems that his instinct has the sensation that RJ/Partridge is here, inside; a similar thing happens to Rosalind Harker at morgue when was Carter's body.

I have only watched the first two series of the Mentalist and a couple of episodes from later series but at the moment I think Brett Partridge is a fantastic choice to make. Also I do not know much about the future series so understand whether I make a lot of bad assumptions. Notice how in episode 23 of Season 2 he runs up to Jane has a conversation with him and when Jane's done he turns around and whispers Jerk. It's is mentioned in that conversation that it is someone mocking Red John. Now most people would assume that he was talking about Jane but I think he was talking about the mock killers.
At the end of the episode he shoots his impersonators and says "I do not like people impersonating my cheap work." Or someting along those lines.
Also this is an interesting point I came up with.
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121021090559/thementalist/images/thumb/2/23/Partridge_pilot....

This is a picture taken from the pilot episode of the Mentalist. While they're examining the crime scene, Jane say's "This isn't Red John, because he thinks of himself as a showman. This isn't the right order."
I think in this picture it looks like Brett is actually trying to subtly compare himself with the smiley face.
The face isn't a sign of arogance though it can be looked at that way. It's Red John sarcastically painting his face.
That's what I think at least
I know about what Lorelei says in a future series, that 'it's surprising you weren't friends the first moment you shook hands.'
Brett works with the police. A very negotiative organisation so he would've shook hands with him, he's obviously not that good of a friend with Jane.
This is something which annoys me about what most people think about Red John and Jane. They're not friends. Red John doesn't think of Jane as a friend, he thinks of him as a worthy opponent. If you put your finger on an idiot's chest and poke it in there face when they look, you're not that impressed with yourself. If you do that to a really clever, intelligent person it makes you proud and vain. That's how Red John thinks.
Thanks for listening.
Cheerio

Besides the obvious appearing in fake Red John cases and appearing to know absolutely nothing making him look more and more like he is trying to hide that he isn't. When Red John tells Jane the poem, the voice doesn't sound disguised, but rather like it's being changed just slightly because his mouth is covered, to me that voice sounds like a smaller male like Brett, I wouldn't say it's the guy running the religion because his voice would have been deeper, but it's not a female, that voice was definitely a male with a lighter voice.

In Season 5, Ep. 15 Lorelei finds out Red John killed her sister. When she tells Jane she is going after here, she does two things.
1) She Kills her victim who knows Red John.
2) She doesn't kill Jane.
3) Brett Partridge is on the scene of the first murder in the episode, and he tries to make Jane believe a different theory than the one Jane already has. (Not to remind you that he is always at the fake Red John cases trying to make  Jane believe it IS Red John.)


So that means a couple things.
1) Red John isn't Jane.
2) Lorelei killed The Victim to cover up who Red John is, or She was just doing it out of anger. Yet, she knows it's more important for Jane to know who Red John is. She didn't care about Jane anymore, it was about her revenge. 

Stop thinking it's Jane. I believe it's Brett Partridge.