After season 5 finale, I watched all the 5 seasons again. I felt like we have enough evidence to know identity of the famous killer RJ. I have been reading the RJ theories almost everyday. Some are quite good but others are too complicated. I think that the mentalist favours simplicity.
I realised that we dont really have any actual evidence.
In season finale, RJ saved Jane. Do we really know if that was actually him? It could have been any of his disciples. If that was in fact him, his voice was distorted. So we have nothing. We cant say its Brett Partridge.
In season 3, Jane was looking for a mole in the CBI. Gale Bertram was introduced in this season. I think that Jane initial instincts were right. He had some weird vide about him. But we thought it was about the case they were working on.
We all have a lot questions about RJ. After some serious thinking, I realised that he was hiding in plain sight.
Gale Bertram is the only one of the 7 suspects who has appeared the most on the mentalist. One thing that I could not understand is why was Timothy Carter in the mall? In season 3 finale, Jane assumed that one the suspect is the mole but what if one of the them was RJ. So when he gave his mole and RJ two different room numbers, RJ figured out his plan. Thats why the assassin went one floor above. This was RJ's plan. Otherwise Jane would have exclude Gale Bertram from his list. Gale was the one who told Timothy to accompany him.
The other reason why I think its him because of the CBI involvement in the RJ case. How did the CBI got the case in the first place? He wanted to keep the case in the CBI so that he knows if there is any progress.
Who has best access to hack the CBI system? It could be Ray Haffner but he does not look like a leader.
I dont know if you guys have noticed this but I believed there is more to the poker game. Lisbon has been playing a lot in season 5 and I suspected that RJ could be one the members. RJ has friends in high places. Have you seen who are the guys playing. Judge, Bertram.... they are all high ranking officials. I think that RJ has been hynotizing Lisbon.
Bertram didnot need any help from Jane to win. He wanted Jane to come and see him. Maybe he had some other plans.
Gale has a coffee mug decorated with fish on his desk and Jason lennon likes fishing. Its a weak connection but maybe there is a story there.
In season 5 finale, Jane never actually said who is on his list except for Bertram who he told Lisbon about. I had some doubt about the list at first but now i believed its legit. But Jane tricked RJ somehow.
I cant wait for season 6. We will finally know his identity.

First of all, thanks to all the people that will read it to the end. I hope it will be interesting for you, I really looked up for everything. Please let me some comments about your thoughts, I'd like it if we could confront our ideas.

Gale Bertram must be Red John. Why ?

- Bruno Heller himself said : "So far, the most important scene of the whole series was the one in the shopping mall, ending by the death of fake Red John (Timothy Carter)". Who was there, waiting with Jane, giving him the tip that helped him find out O'laughlin was the mole ? Gale Bertram. He said the famous "You are at the end of the rope.", "rope" even if it isn't the most suited word there. He said that on purpose, so that Jane would be misdirected to Timothy Carter.

Plus, why would there be two accomplishes of Red John in the very same place ? To protect him from any tentative Jane could do.


- The first time Gale Bertram is introduced (3x01), Jane feels some weird vibes and don't want to resolve the case anymore. When Bertram talk to the camera, his eyes are fixed on Jane. And the first thing he said about Jane : "The boy of Wonder", like Jane's father. What a nice way of robbing happy memories from Jane's past in like, what ... five seconds ?


- "He is mar", does it remind you something ? If you look closely to the scene, there is a mirror that wasn't really exposed to the camera as Jane don't look at it too much. The mirror seems to be nearly in front of the text. If you read it in the mirror, you will read "Ram si eh". What if the guy, Renfrew, was willing to write "He is marterb", then having" Bertram si eh" in the mirror ? Writting it from right to left may have fooled Red John, who hadn't the time anyway to clean it up before the CBI coming.


- I recently had a VERY interesting discussion with someone who works on the hypnosis. He told me that, for some experienced people, it isn't impossible to hypnotize others by a few tipical words (some just say "SLEEP !", that's really impressive, I swear) if, before those words, they have prepared the mind to the hypnosis. For example (that, especially, drew my attention), using a specific poem or proverb. Remember "Tyger Tyger" ? William Blake ?
What if "Tyger Tyger" was the poem Red John used to enroll people as his so called "friends" ? Or it could be to make them unable of revealing his true identity. Do you remember when Bertram quotes a poem and J.J Laroche saying "I think it's from William Blake" ? Bertram may have hypnotized Laroche by quoting that. Why would he do that ? So that Laroche would later kill Genma (the guy that knew Red John and attached a bomb on Lisbon) in a certain situation that he was sure Laroche would be.


- Something that may appear as trivial : when Jane and Kirkland first shook hands. After that, the camera continues to film the scene (both of them have leaved) and what can we see ? A large portrait of Bertram, on the wall, looking at the scene like "I'm the one who rules everything." Why would it be filmed a few (way too long) seconds without Bruno Heller wanting it to be there ?

I'll finally add one more thing : don't be fooled by the trick with Lorelei's video. Red John made it after the informations on the board of Jane were robbed. I also met a magician and explained to him what RJ did, he answered : "There is no such things as magic or psychics, like your Jane said. You have to look at things rationally : if Mister A knows and information about Mister B, then it means Mister A has stolen it. It can happen by hypnosis or by robbing it without Mister B knowing. In your case, the interesting thing is that Mister B actually KNOWS that the informations have been robbed. Could be a godly plan to fool A."
So, if Red John knows the seven names, it's because he has stolen the informations. He did it after Lorelei's death, so he recorded the video, falsifying it.
The only question is : is Jane smart enough to have used some false informations that could lead him to Red John ? If he could outsmart Red John with this one, it would be amazing.

Well, that's the end of my theory there. One again, I hope it was interesting for you !

i
thought the real red John appears first time in Season 3? so it can't
be Patridge, Stiles, MC Callister , Reede Smith or Haffner, because they
appears long before Season and/ or after season 3. İt is Gale Bertram.
you can clearly see that on season 5 episode 16. And the mentalist guy
on the last episode from season 5 looks like a brother from Bertram

He is the most unexpected, the most WOW moment there can be.
He knows Jane the best, and he fits all the descriptions. He is a little strange, odd behavior, never mentions wife, kids, love live, family. Can easily be loner, frustrated and oppressive with women. He is definitely a winner, he cant cope with losing even a poker game.
I will be shocked if he is reviled as RJ, but better him than Kirkland or the fat old CBI detective. Kirkland is so much expected, and Reede is boring and there is so little about him we know. And he is in fact dull and unlike to be a true charmer and a leader. And RJ is definitely a leader, he has powers beyond a normal mediocre person.

Next in line for me are Stiles and Haffner,the can easily be the charmer and the power leader RJ is.

first i suspected in brett partridj cuz e got a strange voice he hate patrick and and only then all rosalind harker desscreption remain to him but after i have been confused cuz when lorlei says gale bertram red john says bertram the he hate press

Just wanted to say really enjoyed a lot of the theories so far, some really well thought out, intricate and very plausible ones. Not so much a theory as to who exactly Red John is, but my top three suspects (in no particular order)

1. Gale Bertram (Director of CBI) 
2. Brett Partridge.(Forensic expert at CBI)
3. Ray Haffner. (ex-CBI agent and known connection to visualize)

I choose these three as they have direct access to CBI, even though the others have had access too. 

Other possibilities.

4. Bret Stiles. 
5. Sheriff Tom McAllister.   

I have chosen to eliminate both Bob Kirkland and Reede Smith. Kirkland because I think it's too obvious it's him and that Heller is playing a bluff (breaking into Jane's "office" and stealing his files and findings into Red John) and killing RJ's accomplice in the hospital ("Do you know who I am"). I've eliminated Reede Smith purely on instinct, I have no reason why, but I just strongly feel he is not Red John. 

on september 29,2013 we will  see the season 6 premier episode it will be called "The Desert Rose " and according to cbs one suspect will die by the end of the episode....any thoughts?my guess is that it has to be somebody in between not too obvious and somebody like the sherriff and reid have to be on the list in order to keep us guessing and somebody like styles and gale bertram or partridge are the way too obvious suspects so it has to be somebody like ray haffner.....