I used to think that Bob Kirkland was Red John, even before seeing season 5, but I am now leaning toward the theory that Ray Haffner is Red John and Bob Kirkland is his right-hand man.

Visualize:  Haffner is a member of Visualize.  It is without question that Visualize is at the heart of things, especially given the Red Barn episode.  Haffner is the right age to have painted the smile face on the red barn, and notably did not answer Lisbon when asked if he was there at that time.  If I am remembering correctly, I believe that Ray evasively answers her question with a question.

Name:  Also interesting, is the fact that the name Ray ... is very close to the name Roy, which is Red John's alias.

Lisbon's Dream:  In the 2nd episode of Season Six, it is noteworthy that, in Lisbon's dream, although many appear guilty, there is only one that tries to cut her with a knife ... Ray.

Nurse: When the nurse looks for another patient in Lisbon's room, it is not coincidence.  There would be no reason to put it in the script ... it does not have anything to do with the plot, in a direct way.  Therefore, the audience must come to the conclusion that Lisbon is being watched ... Why?  The only reason could be to tell Haffner (who is the next visitor) when he can visit her alone.

Is Ray Haffner Bret Stiles Son? One thing I have also wondered is if it could be possible that Haffner is the son of Bret Stiles.  With the cult Visualize, it is entirely possible that a son would not necessarily bear Bret's name and would certainly add to the drama, as well as the power that Red John has.  It would also account for how Ray (if he is RD), could be so powerful.  They also both have a similar eye color.  Just a thought ...

Hi everyone,

I just want to rectify a reccuring mistake that mostly everyone makes in regards to the clue of the painting on the wall: "He Is Man/Mar"

I think we are all not seeing clearly here. We focus too much on the description as detached words, when in fact I think it means only one word, which is.....wait for it!
HEISMAN: College football trophy.

Remember RJ's accomplice inside the CBI, Mr. Craig O'laughlin, well if I recall right...during a conversation with Van Pelt, he mentions playing football during his college years.

All in all, the main point that I'm targeting here is the fact that only one of the suspects (for now) has a connection to the Heisman trophy clue: Ray Haffner. They show the trophy behind Ray's shoulder when him and Cho discuss things in his office. You can compare it to the actual "Heisman Trophy" (google it) and see how similar they are!

Thank you all for reading this.

Here's what I think happened in the 2nd episode of season six:

First Theresa's dream had lots of dark imagery, but who actually attacked her? Haffner!

Next, during Patrick's visit, the doctor came in looking for Carmen Lee.  I think Haffner  just wanted to know if Theresa was alone, and send the doctor in to check for him.  She waited around in the hall until after Patrick left, you can see her when he is on the phone.

Once he knew she was alone, Haffner came in to see if WHAT Theresa remembered, to see if she knew it was him.  He sensed she was nervous, but I don't think he believed she knew he was Red John.

It struck me how good his posture was compared to the other suspects, which was one of Sophie's clues.  He is also the correct age and body type, if the clues are to be believed.

It gave me shivers when he said that one day they would have "a time" in the future.  That doesn't sound like someone who is planning to get to know you for any length of time.

And the whistle, well, if you go read the lyrics to "Jimmy Crack Corn"  AKA Blue Tail Fly, they are about a slave getting away with murder, and are offensive by the way. 

The RJ case has to be more complicated than a lone psychopath with loyal followers.  The notion that a psychopath is going to have numerous companion psychopaths or even just willing followers who are willing to die for him seems far-fetched.  Also, it would be trite for ALL the law enforcement agencies -- Homeland Security, the FBI, the CBI, and even local PD's -- to be widely evil, corrupt, and incompetent  except! for Lisbon's virtuous, heroic group.  (A major purpose of internal affairs departments is to root out corruption within those agencies, no?)

So, despite Mr. Heller's misdirection and focus on the RJ identity, the more interesting question centers on the motivation and involvement of the other major characters and organizations.  Here are some possibilities.

o  OPERATION TO NAIL VISUALIZE - What if Homeland Security, the FBI, the CBI, and even local PD's are pursuing RJ, who is closely connected to Visualize?  Visualize has numerous supporters within law enforcement so the agencies would have to run a top secret operation.  Hence, Bertram and Kirkland appear to be conspiring against J's hunt for RJ, but they are trying to protect a legitimate investigation.  J's 6-mo. absence from CBI while he was in Las Vegas plus his involvement with Lorelei would give them reason to wonder whether J had been co-opted and might help RJ.  (If Bertram and Kirkland were RJ supporters themselves, why would they ever wonder if they could "trust" Lisbon, as presented in S5E16 "There Will Be Blood"?  Knowing Lisbon is close to J, they could reasonably wonder about trusting Lisbon when they had doubts about J.)  The seemingly shady, conspiratorial behavior of Bertram, Kirkland, and Smith would then make sense for legitimate reasons, rather than just as pawns of RJ.  RJ would then likely be Haffner because of the Visualize membership.

o  RED JOHN IS ONE NODE OF A LARGER INVESTIGATION - Another possibility is that RJ is just one node of a much larger legitimate investigation by Homeland Security and the FBI.  I'm intrigued by the international reach of Visualize and RJ.  Remember that Montero, friend of Todd Johnson and RJ, did gun running to Central and South America (S3E16, "The Red Queen").  Sean Barlow (S5E22, "Red John's Rules") was a compelling character from PJ's carnival days.  As mentioned by Pete Turner (PJ's carny friend), Barlow maintains connections in Ireland.  Barlow is old enough to have been involved with the IRA (Irish Republican Army).  Although the IRA is politically disbanded, the network that used to fund it supposedly is still active in crime and had/has links to other terrorist organizations (FARC in Colombia, the Basque ETA, Libya when under Quadafi, and the former PLO).  Kirkland could have killed Jason Lennon (S5E18, "Behind The Red Curtain") because he was a covert agent who had been "turned" by RJ (per Kirkland, Lennon had become a "plaything of monsters") and needed to be eliminated to protect the larger investigation.  (BTW, Lennon seemed aware that Kirkland was about to kill him but did not cry out or object.  That suggests that Lennon accepted Kirkland's judgment that Lennon would spend the rest of his life in prison and, perhaps, that being killed was an easier and even just consequence.)  The conspiratorial behavior of Bertram, Kirkland, and Smith again would make sense for legitimate reasons.

o PERSONAL CONNECTION BETWEEN J AND RJ - Finally, having J's involvement with RJ go back to J's carnival days, to his past, would make for much more powerful drama.  RJ's obsession and special treatment of J seems far more personal than just a reaction to J's on-air comments about RJ from 10 years ago.  Again, I was intrigued with the Sean Barlow character.  According to J's carny friend Pete, Sean Barlow cultivates grudges, would not hesitate to kill his niece, and is "a sinister piece of work -- mean and clever" (S5E22 "Red John's Rules").  According to J, Sean Barlow was close friends with J's father till they became enemies (S5E22).  Wouldn't it be interesting if Barlow pursued revenge against Alex Jane by attacking his family--J?  The S5E5 "Red Dawn" episode in which Judge Dellinger says, "If you want to hurt a man, don't kill him.  Kill his family" establishes that perspective on revenge.  IF Sean Barlow pursued revenge against Alex/Patrick Jane, AND if RJ were an agent/friend of Barlow, AND if Barlow and RJ were also involved with international criminal/terrorist organizations, THEN there would be reason for the interest and involvement of Federal law enforcement/security agencies in what is seemingly a local serial killer.  The various parties would also have cause to wonder about J's allegiances.  J would be connected to Sean Barlow, known to be involved with criminal/terrorist organizations and a former business partner of J's father Alex.  That could even explain Kirkland's initial warning to Minelli (via Alexa Shultz) about J when he was first hired by CBI (S5E5 "Red Dawn").  True, J's family was killed by RJ, but then RJ's mistress Lorelei became J's lover.  An outsider could have cause to wonder about J.

IMHO these scenarios are more interesting than a local psychopathic serial killer annoyed by an entertainer's on-air insulting comments ten years ago.

Thansk for reading this.

I think it is Ray Haffner.  Here are my reasons why:
First, he is a good whistler and so is Red John.
Second, he is a member of Visualize and Red John is a member of Visualize.
Third, Ray Haffner has feelings for Lisbon and Red John may have feelings for Lisbon too.  Otherwise, Red John would have killed her.
Fourth, remember Lisbon's dream in season 6 episode 2?  Well, he was in it.  In fact, he was the last person in it.  He did hit Teresa Lisbon in the dream.
Fifth, Red John is middle aged and so is Ray Haffner.
Sixth, Red John is not strong but not weak either.  Ray Haffner was lifting medium sized weights in the second episode of the sixth season.  Therefore, he is about average strength.
Seventh and final reason, he did shake hands with Jane and so did Red John probably.
Now, let me give reasons to eliminate the other suspects:
First, Reede Smith is a little too fat and too strong.  Red John is not fat nor strong.  However, Reede Smith could be an accomplice though.  
Second, Bret Stiles is too old for Red John but he could be the father of Red John.
Third, Gale Bertram is bald.  Red John is not bald.  However, he could be an accomplice though.
Fourth, Sheriff McAllister is a little too old for Red John.
Fifth, Brett Partridge is probably dead.  In fact, the actor who plays Brett Partridge says that his character is dead.  However, he does have the voice, creepiness and the intelligence of Red John.  He also has the height description of Red John and is middle age like Red John.  He also did say "Tiger, Tiger" to Lisbon and Red John has said "Tiger Tiger" to Patrick Jane.  If Brett Partridge managed to fake his death, I might change my guess back to Brett Partridge.  But I doubt it.
Sixth and final reason, Bob Kirkland talked to one of Red John's accomplices.  The accomplice does not recognize Kirkland.  Furthermore, he did not leave a smiley face after killing the accomplice.

The only top two suspects on my list are Ray Haffner and Brett Partridge.  The other suspects I could eliminate.  I am leaning towards Haffner now but I am not ready to eliminate Partridge yet.

So that is my theory.  Please rate this theory.  I would appreciate it.

Just imagine the six suspects left killing Jane family. Imagine them looking down on Janes wife, then waking her up and killing her. I can only see one face doing that..

I guess the hardest thing for me to grasp is the manner in which the various associates of Red John are so devoted to him.  They speak of him like they know him very well, but they come from such a wide range of the spectrum. 

Under what setting could they have meet him and gotten to know him so well?

 The church seems to be an obvious choice.  Brett Stiles is too old, but more importantly doesn't really seem to have complete control of the church.  It's like he wants to use Patrick to regain the edge he has lost within the church.

Ray Haffner seems to be frustrated in love and wants to be more worldly like Patrick.  He fits the bill of a person that may have enough low cunning to get control over the others within the church, but not enough flair to get the girl.  Brett Stiles had the second characteristic, but not the first.

The three men meeting at CBI may actually be trying to steal all of the thunder by solving the case of the century.  None of them really seem very smart and may be seeking each other for support.  None of them have been shown to be bad men - yet.

On the contrary, Bob Kirkland is a bad man - having committed murder.  However, he has a quality that he is working for someone, not a leader.

Lastly, the cast on Lisbon's arm seems odd.  There may be a simple explanation, such as she hurt her arm but they had to keep filming (like when James Garner's legs gave out during the production of the Rockford Files).  But I have a feeling that something is going on with her which Patrick doesn't know.  Even so, he is using her to feed false information to someone such as her poker partners.