Maybe a little leftfield, but the actor who plays Ray Haffner was also in Bones last season and early this season as an FBI agent (typecast?). He was badly injured in a previous season, and suddenly appears in the recent episode (after recovering quickly), only to be killed by the main protagonist (Pelant) who is then quickly captured ... early to mid-season.

That whole multi-season plotline in Bones (around Pelant) was wrapped up very quickly, especially the Agent's death, and at the time the conspiracy theorist in me wondered if it was somehow related to the Mentalist.

Plus what everyone else has said ... '3 dot' suspects are too obvious, Stiles is too old, I assume Kirland and Partridge are actually dead.

Fisrt of all I want to ask many of you to stop thinking that Brett Partridge can be RJ! Why? Because he is dead. How can you think PJ and the CBI would have made such a mistake by having not deeply checking this little detail?!? In my mind he was obviously the first victim because most of the fans thought he was RJ (CSI and DEXTER influence? Maybe!). RJ killed him because he was irritated by the fans as he was by PJ in the past!
6 left.

Bob Kirkland is dead!
5 left.

Bertram, Smith, McAllister, are connected by their tatto to what we supposed to be a secret organization. This tatto is also something PJ would have noticed for long time if all RJ "tools" had it (mostly Lorelei). We already had a clue about this connection in episod s6ep02 when Jane surprised the 3 of them during a secret meeting in Bertram's office.
2 left.

Except is age, Stiles is the perfect RJ, powerful, clever, with influence on many people,but he is too old to be RJ. I think he knows who RJ is and try to protect him because he has a sort connection with him. Of course we knows RJ was/visualize but it's possible that Stiles is RJ's father or at least family member. Or just becuase RJ is Visualize member, he considers him as his one of his child.

RAY HAFFNER is my RED JOHN.
perfect profile. Member of Visualize. He was CBI before leaving to found his own company. Maybe he realized PJ was about to find him and he prefered to distance himself. We also know he has fellings for Lisbon, this might be the reason why he did not kill her. He also knows very well the team, so he can anticipate their moves.
Remember Lorelei told RJ and PJ were the same. both of same got the same charm and elegancy and should seduce the same kind of girls (Lorelei, Lisbon, Frey).

This is my theory, now let's wait and see!!!

This isn't so much an accusation as it is me looking for clarification. So many people are arguing that partridge isn't dead and I would be among them if it didn't leave one serious plot hole. Are we really to believe that Patrick Jane who has every aspect of every Red John victim committed to memory would not want to see the body of one of the men who was on the list or look for clues on the body or in the autopsy?

Are we really to believe that Patrick Jane wouldn't satisfy himself 100% about the circumstances surrounding his demise. It just doesn't ring true that Jane wouldn't do these things and therefore would discover if partridge's body was or wasnt in the morgue and if Heller went down that road it would be a fairly big flaw in his logic.

I saw all these things because if I have missed something in the series I hope someone let's me know.
Cheers

I think it's Ray. The guys with three dots are not red john probably but members of his organisation. Brett Styles is the strongest guy of them and I don't think that he is red john as he seems too obivious. But Ray is a character that we tend to forget between all the events. I

f I was a scenarist I would choose him to be the red john as it will be more surprising as Brett gets shocked.

Recently, I have been 95% sure that RJ is Haffner and equally sure that he isn't Stiles. Episode 6 make me think opposite, haffners behaviour with Lisbon in the cafe made me think he's definitely not RJ, far too weak. Stiles pairing the 'clown' face on the woman at the ritual made me think it had to be him.

Then, when the other three suspects had the tattoos, I ended the episode thinking it must be one of them. However it doesn't really add up having one of these three as RJ. Sure, they're all portrayed to be creepy and sinister..but why would they need to send a PI to infiltrate Cho et al, when they could just big lisbons office, having inside access and all. It would seem to me that these three suspects are together, bound together by something due to their meet ups etc, but that none of them really fit Rosalind's description or have RJs intelligence levels.

Let's not forget that during these 'reveal' sessions the PJ stages, he is usually a few steps ahead of the pack, including us. I think he knows the three suspects he ordered to stand up are not RJ, and that's why he seperated them from the group. He probably wanted to give stiles and Haffner false confidence that Jane is not on their trail.

The explosion: let's not forget that jane used to perform trickery. Could the explosion be a diversion or something jane put in place to seperate everybody, disappear with brett and Haffner?

Look at Brett stiles , so nurturing towards janes investigating. Almost fatherly, he acts as janes mentor, kindly pointing out to him with interest that Bertram & FBI guy had the tattoos too. Perhaps him and stiles have a connection that jane is not aware of? Haffner carries out the acts of RJ , unbeknownst to father figure stiles..he's doing it for recognition/attention from stiles.

The visualize connection is just too strong!!!

Looking back at the sixth episode, a lot of things didn't make sense.

Why
would Red John try to bug the CBI office?

We
know that Red John has been narrowing the list down, by killing Bret Partridge.

Red
John has always been one step ahead of Patrick, maybe he
was it again?

Think
about it for a second.



One
thing that I am absolutely sure about, is the fact that Red John is extremely well organized.

Someone
with these characteristics plans every single detail of his actions.

Remember
killing Sophie Miller? Patrick said: ''He must have been waiting until he knew
I would try to track her down''. ''He planned this weeks ago, maybe even
months''.

Furthermore,
remember killing Partridge and luring Lisbon in to a trap? You don't improvise
those actions.



Red
John was aware of the list with seven suspects. He must have known Patricks
intensions, and try to put him on the wrong feet. The first step was killing
Partridge. The second step was getting in touch with the woman who spied on the
CBI team, and making her believe that
he has a tattoo on his right arm (three dots). He could have added a fake
tattoo on his shoulder easily, with the intension of putting the tyger tyger
group in the headlights. Or maybe he hypnotized her? Who knows.



Haffner
is a private investigator who is very good at his work. Kirkland was very good
at his work as well, and he managed to find out about a secret organization
(Tyger Tyger). Maybe Haffner was able to pull of the same thing? Or maybe
Haffner is somehow connected to the Tyger Tyger group, and marks his most
important disciples by giving them three dots. 



The
third logical step for Red John would be to put the attention on someone else.
First he made people believe that he is doing a sprint to the finish with
Patrick (by killing Partridge), and now he makes people believe that either
Smith, Bertram or McAllistor is Red John because of the tattoo (continuing his
sprint to the finish).
While in fact, he is putting them in the crosshairs.



Red
John is a powerful individual, someone with a narcissistic personality. He
probably has a form of megalomania, because he is very proud at his work
(remember one of the finales in which Red John saves Patrick from copycats).
Red John read out loud the poem of the Tyger, by William Blake, to show off his
power to Patrick.



This
is also why Red John killed the Jane family. Patrick made Red John look
ridiculous on the television, this must have made him very angry because he has
a form of megalomania, and thinks of himself as a showman and artist. It must
have hurt his ego... Red John is a
ruler, someone who gives orders and holds all the strings in his hands.

Someone with these characteristics would hate the idea of having similarities (or sharing
something) with other
individuals (the three dots). These dots don’t proof anything, just the existence
of the Tyger Tyger group (who are very likely connected to Red John, one way or
another).



Haffner
told Lisbon that he joined Visualize as a messed up kid. Maybe
a messed up kid with megalomania, who was traumatised by something that happend
in his youth, or has another personality. Bret Stiles made him his deciple, and learned him how to
control his dark urges. Maybe Stiles came up with the idea of giving Haffners
dark personality the name John (a very common normal name). What if they signed
this other personality up for Visualize as well? That would mean that Haffner
is on the Visualize member list as Ray Haffner and as Red John. The perfect
cover. 



 As
far as we know, Stiles doesn't have any children. Maybe he considered Ray
Haffner as his child. A good parent gives his child the right education and
life lessons, and shapes his personality. Stiles his idea of education was
finding a way for Haffner to live with himself. He also gave Haffner money to
start his own private business, something you only do if you are really close
with someone.



Going
back in time, there was a scene in season 5 episode 13 in which Lisbon asked
Haffner about his life. She said: ‘’So Ray, you said that you joined
Visualize as a teenager. So 1988, you would have been 21’’?  In which Haffner quickly responses: ‘’Yeah
about that...’’.  After which Lisbon
asks: ‘’Did they ever sent you to work on Allisons farm? Were you there?’’. In
which Red John answer: Lisbon, we are still friends right? Why would you ask me
that? (which I thought meant something like if you go further with this I will
have to hurt you).

Red John figured out the list with seven suspects before Patrick did.
This means that he could have been able to make a plan in which he could
possibly betray/frame the Tyger Tyger group. Maybe he even told his most loyal disciples
that they were going to be in the crosshairs for him.

 

It is very likely that Red John met the woman who spied on the CBI in a
place like a gym. We know from the scene in which the doctor’s notes are read out
loud, that Haffner works out on a regular basis and wears a t-shirt while doing
this. This must have been the ideal place to show off his (fake) tattoo. When
Red John killed the woman who spied on the CBI, he must have planned to not
finish her off completely. Red John hates lose ends, so this would be the only
logical explanation for me. Killing a woman like that requires strength and
speed, something Smith, Bertram and McAllistor don’t really seem to have. Also,
the shadow seemed to show a little bit of hair, which eliminates Bertram.

There are so many other things which point to Haffner as well. He is an
excellent whistler, short-tempered, easily offended (when Lisbon said he was a
possible Red John candidate).  Again a
form of megalomania.

Also, Red John is a very intelligent person, and a master of body language.
When Jane got the seven suspects together in one room, Haffner was the first
person to say that it was ridiculous. This could be interpreted as someone who
is very guilty of something, but later on Haffner ‘’proofed’’ that he didn’t
have the tattoo. Which made his action one of a man who is truly upset by
something, right? Wrong...    He reacted
at first to be a step ahead of Patrick. He knew Patrick would back off if he
saw the tattoos from the other guys, and he knew that his action would be interpreted
as ‘’upset’’. I think this would be a typical Red John move, always being one
step ahead of the competition.  Isn’t
that were the entire show is about?

Even though I am not a woman, Haffner looks charming and charismatic,
something which a lot of women find attractive. I just feel and think that he
would make the most logical and intelligent Red John. In one of the
conversations with Patrick Jane, Haffner said something like: You always know
it better, don’t you?  The mentalist is
about little clues, and I believe that if we add up all of these little clues
we get Ray Haffner.

So why do I not believe that the other suspects are Red John? Multiple
reasons. I believe that Heller changed the identity of Red John a couple of
times. The first Red John was introduced to us in either the first or the
second season, and must have been Partridge. Heller must have had an escape
scenario, in case the show would not get a lot of views. Imagine having a
random Red John if season three would have been the last one? No one would buy
that...

Fortunately, the opposite thing happened. The mentalist had become a big
success, and slowly, but surely, Bruno Heller must have decided around the
fourth season that it was time to round things off and start writing a complete
profile of Red John. This is exactly around the time that Ray Haffner came in
the spotlights. During the fourth season in episode two he appeared, which
would be the exact right time.

Reede Smith got introduced in the fifth season, which is way too late.
He is chubby, not very high profile in the FBI, and seems to be someone who
finishes the dirty work (like killing Kirkland). He doesn’t fit the description
of Sophie Miller as well. She said there was every indication that his phobia
issues were true, whether it was acrophobia or another kind of phobia. We know
that Haffner is afraid of spiders, which could be considered as a phobia as
well.

McAllistor is not afraid of heights and does not seem to have another
phobia . Also, he doesn’t seem to be powerful enough to be Red John. When
Smith, Bertram and Mcallistor were talking in the room, I just felt that they
were corrupt agents and were talking about something, but nothing more. Red
John is very mobile and was able to go to Mexico to kill a lead that the CBI
had before they were able to reach it. I just don’t feel like a local sheriff
has the mobility to pull something off. We know that Visualize has a private
plane, which Stiles used to disappear. Of course Mcallistor could be a
visualize member who happens to have access to that plane, but it just doesn’t
feels right.

Summarizing, Haffner works for himself. He is good looking, well spoken,
but there are signs of an evil and narcissistic personality. He seems to be in
excellent shape, and he really likes Teresa Lisbon. Enough reason to save her
and put a smiley on her face. I think Red John admires Lisbon as much as Jane
does, which is maybe another definition of the poem in which Red John referred
to symmetry.  

He has been in Visualize, and admitted coming there as a damaged kid. He
was about 21 years old when Red John started killing people, which would be the
perfect age to show that he is mature and aware of his actions.

in 6x01 when lisbon enters the house where partridge is, there's a "666" and the word "DIE" on the wall.
the "666" is the number of the DEVIL, or better, the BEAST.  

remember season 5 finale? ...when Cho asked Sandra about the red john murder, she said:
"did you see in that room?...that was the DEVIL in there"

the other writing on the wall was the word "DIE" and in fact we saw the death of brett partridge and other suspects.


now, a lot of theories already said that if we take the Book of Revelation (13:3) it says:

"I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the BEAST" (the great red dragon: the number of the beast is 666)


the next episode is THE GREAT RED DRAGON
if this was the real clue heller was talking about, one of the 4 "probably dead" suspects will come back as red john in 6x07

the 4 of them are: Partridge, McAllister, Haffner, Stiles (kirkland is out of the list, smith killed him)


in my opinion partridge could be the best red john, but I think he's really dead... he had to die because RJ wanted to lead patrick to the "tyger tyger" group, and now jane thinks that RJ is one of them while in fact is not.

stiles would be great, he even said that he will come back after the death... but he's too old to be RJ

mcallister is another possible great red john, but if my theory is right it can't be him because someone shot him...

...and that person is the last one, haffner.
he was the first to show his shoulder (for obvious reasons, he had no tattoo), because he tricked patrick into thinking that RJ is one of the tygers, so that he could be free from any suspects. 

he was the one who shot mcallister (bertram and smith are still alive, they will appear in the following two episodes) in jane's house, because he feared that one of the 3 tygers would reveal his identity under the shotgun threat.

I don't know if he will be confirmed as dead in 6x07, for now we only know that the promo said he died because of the explosion, but anything's possible... my bet is on Ray Haffner.