I love this forum and all the theories about Red John....In fact I am quite addicted to it...and I have to say many of the contributors have presented reveals that would make for awesome endings to the Red John saga ...

I, myself have built some cases, and accused Ray Haffner and Reede Smith of being the serial killer ...

... but I'm afraid I have framed two innocent men ( well sort of innocent )...

I have found the real killer ...

The serial killer known as Red John is ( drum roll ) Sheriff Thomas McAllister....final answer...

Why McAllister ?

Well, the reason might seem absurd ... but it's because there is nothing linking him to Red John murders .... That's right ... He's Red John because there is no evidence against him ...

( Huhhhh???)

Remember when the seven suspects were first revealed...It was Bob Kirkland ( check ), Brett Partridge ( check ), Ray Haffner ( check ), Sheriff Tom McAlistar ( wtf - Who ???? ) ...  .  Didn't you have to check IMDB just to remember who the this guy was ? He is a character completely off the radar ... Someone you might think was just there to pad out the list of seven ...

But the more you think about it ... Would Red John ever admit to being in Visualize ( Haffner ) .... would he ever quote Tyger Tyger ( Bertram ) ... would he ever do anything to draw attention to himself as a suspect ?

Never ...

" Red John never makes mistakes " ... and this is from Red John expert, and investigative genius Patrick Jane ... If Red John had made any mistakes at any time Patrick would have caught him ... Patrick is never fooled ... A little glance or a misspoken word is enough for him to crack a case ... but Red John never does anything, ever, that points to his real identity ...

How would a man like that look ?

Like an anonymous nobody ... maybe like a small town Sheriff with a room temperature IQ ...

Keyser Soze said " The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist " ...

Red John's greatest trick is the world doesn't even think of him as a possibility as Red John ... In fact the world doesn't think of him at all ...

If Red John hadn't made the sole mistake of revealing his meeting with Jane ... If the list of seven had not been deduced ... but Red John was about to be caught ... all the other six on the list would still be suspects  ...

But 99 % of viewers wouldn't even remember who McAllistar was ... In fact, it's fair to say, Jane himself would barely remember him ...

Just the way Red John would want it ...


That's it ... No more theories from me ... just going to read other peoples ... keep them coming they're great ...

( PS Brett Partridge helped him somehow ... Is he sometimes a proxy? Is it his voice used when Red John talks ? )

S2e8 Lisbon washing shirt wearing a sports bra. Absolutely no three dots!
The last agent was in Towlen Morning's office. What was the music?
CBI Agent Rojo claimed the body which had DNA evidence on it.

Who dug up the body with the roses on the crotch? And why?
Am I missing something? Is that the same body as the war vet with the missing leg?
Red John also sees through people as does PJ.
RJ on a mission of enlightenment???? Similar to Visualize. Who will feed Rebecca's cat Rex?
The man who killed Rebecca was much thinner than Reede Smith! And wouldn't Bertram an Haffner be recognized? That leaves the Sheriff, although I don't usually vote for him with other clues.
Red John DOES make mistakes.

"It's almost like a love scene, as perverse as that sounds," Baker told TV Guide Magazine. "The end of Red John was originally planned to take place at night on the street with people watching, but I pushed to do it in the daylight in a quiet, beautiful place where they could be alone. There is no human act more intimate - not even sex - than killing another human being and watching them die."

http://images.buddytv.com/btv_2_800033859_1_434_593_0_/xander-berkeley-in--.jpg

http://www.ddoagency.com/images/artists/artist_1301425352_43_l.jpg


http://www.whoisredjohn.com/See-a-theory-Red-John/11150#disqus_thread

                             It's all right in front of you......I think the fans on this sight are better writers than the ones of the show......but many people are thinking WAY too hard and others have become lost in these theories and their memories of the show convoluted, filled with red herrings and false facts from this sight....

Are you guys like me and you've been thinking about The Mentalist 'last chapter' for weeks??
I never ever thought I would care about any show this much in my life! I'm fanatical about the whole Red John storyline coming to an end! 

I've come full circle with the suspects, I started with Partridge, then dead Partridge, then Haffner, sheriff, later for a short time even Stiles, Bertram, Kirkland..Now I'm back with Haffner and the sheriff because I just don't know anymore..

The only two people I never ever thought of are Smith and Jane himself. I refuse to believe it's either of them..

Who is it going to be??? I'm going crazy!! Every suspect has something for them and against them, Bruno Heller has done a good job because we can't stop speculating! I don't think this has ever happened with any shows to such detail..It's nice to be part of The Mentalist community with you guys!:P

I think we've exhausted the theories on who Red John is based on evidence, so here's my theory on how Jane catches Red John based on evidence...

Jane chases Mcallister into the Park. Dumps muffins all over him and he gets mauled by pigeons. Mcallister has panic attack from his fear of pigeons and faints. Patrick Jane ties him up and holds him down. Tom wakes up and Jane slices him up. End Scene.

  The following links are all you need to see who Red John will be....
Sorry it's not some overthought ridiculous theory....I admit those are fun to read.
        So here are pics of nick nordella and xander berkley.  And finally a short plausible theory.
One can obviously see that nick nordella is going to be a young McCallister..... 
  
http://images.buddytv.com/btv_2_800033859_1_434_593_0_/xander-berkeley-in--.jpg

http://www.ddoagency.com/images/artists/artist_1301425352_43_l.jpg



http://www.whoisredjohn.com/See-a-theory-Red-John/11150

Here is a picture you may want to see.....

http://images.buddytv.com/btv_2_800033859_1_434_593_0_/xander-berkeley-in--.jpg

Xander Berkley definitely has the acting chops to pull off the role of red john...
        
We know 6x1 contained a clue that wouldn't be revealed as a clue until later....We watched patrick figure it out....
    The good doctor said she believed red john was lying about his phobia.
The sheriff was startled by a pigeon while saving patrick and said "I hate those things"
  I believe this can be interpreted as rj saying he hated partridge.  Red John probably found Bret Partridge just as irksome as Patrick does....    Red John/Sheriff McCallister probably developed his "hatred" for partridges/birds during his early days in the carnival.
          This is why Patrick is staring so intently at the birds in the park...he's working through this clue....     I believe Nick Nordella while portray a young McCallister in the carnival and his phobia of birds will be a source of ridicule (perhaps from Patrick's father)
       "My son Patrick could do it Tom!  You'll never be as good as he was."    something to that effect......
   By now most of us have read the article and know patrick will be strangling RJ in a park on a beautiful clear day.  (strangling=crime of passion)    
My guess it will be the same park pj and lisbon where sitting in.   And the pigeons there will be a final determining clue for patrick.   Cue the flashback to a young sheriff mccallister failing at filling patricks role in the carnival......