i think it is Max Winter. And this article shows it http://thementalist.wikia.com/wiki/Is_Jack_Coleman%27s_character_Max_Winter_the_real_Red_John_%3F

After years of watching the show closely, i finally have him. Red John. For the pas few months i have been studying everything about Red John and the show in general.

It came to me when Jane got Lorelei out of prison.Lorelei thought it was Red John that got her out. Red John has people that can do anything for him.He has friends that can get him anywhere and out of anywhere.That got me thinking.

Dr Linus Wagner is Red John
What better cover is there, than to be in jail this whole time.You have an alibi the whole time, so no one thinks its possible. 

If you dont believe me-Rewatch the Pilot episode and the 3x8 episode named Ball of fire.Those are the 2 episodes that Linus Wagner is in. In the Pilot it is revealed that he is a psychiatrist, and he knows a ton about the human mind and has a ton of books that include Red John.

But Ball Of FIRE in the 3rd season really jumps out.Watch the whole episode, but specifically the jail scene between Wagner and Lisbon.

In that episode,Jane is taken hostage by a person from Janes past. Wagner calls lisbon up and tells her that he has info on who took him.(ONE OF RJ"S FRIENDS?)
Wagner says to Lisbon that if he tells her about Jane, he has to recieve a life sentence instead of a death penalty.He gets it,as RJ will do anything to live.

He pretty much says that he wanted to kill PJ, BUT he says " There are things so much worse than killing a man " He would rather torment and Taunt Jane like he has for the past 9 years instead of killing Jane, as death would be too easy for him.

As for getting out of Jail all of those times,His friends could easily gotten him out and back in. He probaly has people in the Prison that help him. He was most likely  the person who poisoned Rebecca in prison too. No one would think it was him, because after all he has an alibi the whole time. I promise you though,

LINUS WAGNER IS RED JOHN.

I think there is a chance that Tommy Volker is red john. In "if it bleeds it leads" neither he nor Jane meet at all or shake hands, 2 episodes before we are told Red John and Jane shake hands, ruling out Volker in the minds of the viewer. Is it not possible if Jane never see's Volker the whole episode and now he is to reappear being in sundays episode being investigated by lisbon that Volker could be someone Jane met before the death of his family, a rick client perhaps and on seeing him Jane will realise he met him.

Volker matches all the criteria for Red John also, rich, powerful, white male, psychopath, voice

Listen to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3ssfgsw5bw

The directors are not going to make it an on screen hand shake and i think Jane meeting and realising hes met him in the next few episode would be a great twist 

 Red john is someone who is the less suspect .. I'm pretty sure of that ! Remember that every case Jane has closed , the killer usually is someone we didn't expect him/her to be the killer .. Also the writer let us to suspect some people for all cases but finally the killer is not one of these suspects!

So from this theory , I rule out Brett Partridge , Bret Stiles , Kristina Frye , J.J. Laroche and Robert Kirkland to be Red John !

I am pretty sure that r.j is bob from homeland security.
 

Hello, 

I am new to all this! I have been reading a lot of the theories on here - all rather interesting. Some I believe are plausible, or have at least made me rethink. 

I truly believe that Red John could, potentially, be anyone. I believe the writing of the series has allowed for this to happen - that any suspect chosen would have some form of evidence against them. Whether that's "real" evidence or "Jane evidence". 

I do not think it is Jane himself. If this were to happen, I would stop watching. It would literally ruin the show. Jane, undoubtedly shares similar traits to Sherlock Holmes, and Red John is his Professor Moriarty. To have them as one in the same, would be have Luke Skywalker turn around and say "Actaully, I'm Vader" or Harry Potter turn out to be Voldemort. It's obnoxious, knock it off!

I also do not believe Red John to be Lisbon. This would go against the Lisbon-Jane thing. He trusts her, she trusts him. It's another fundamental element of the show that harks back to Sherlock Holmes. Lisbon is essentially Doctor Watson. 

Thanks for reading this, I do not even pretend to know who Red John is. But would appreciate feed back on what I have posted. 

Robert Kirkland is the alleged serial killer Red John. On season 5, episode 5, a woman named Alexa Schultz calls the director at the time (Virgil Minelli) and requests that he gives updates on the RJ case. She told Minelli she works for the FBI an that her boss would appreciate what's going on in the case. Minelli agrees, and has no idea that RJ was in the same car as Alexa. They revealed Robert Kirkland as Red John and the scene ends. (He also works in the FBI.)