first lets go back to the list. It s quite  obvious that jane has another list in mind  as I cant see any of them being red john .
This list is just a bait because he needed to bring red john into the light again, but also the 7 suspects could be for him possible red john 's associates.
That s why he is checking them carefully.

red john is walter mashburn.

I found this guy quite intriguing ,even too obvious to be Red John at the beginning . But none of the 7 suspects are smart enough to be red john.
red john is a real psychopath, cold blood, narcissist, thinking hes more clever than anybody ,he wouldnt pretend to be a fool, this would damage his pride.
he wouldnt show any weaknesses , he has to be in control, always one step ahead.
You can feel mashburn is bored in his confortable life ,he has everything money can provide and murdering people gives him the thrill.
red john has a lot of connections , lots of leverage (money can buy nearly anything)  . 

a few clues in the mix :
- patrick jane made a very good portrait of mashburn ,and walter found this description very appropriate and was flattered ,being a narcissist . at this stage, patrick was describing a psychopath 
- mashburn was once talking about previous relationships  (or victims) ,talking about one being a psychic (krystyna frye ) 
- the blood on the wall , "he is ma"shburn would fit 
- stated  " maybe next time im the killer" in one episod, meaning that he would kill again. 
- when patrick killed the fake red john, he simulated a severe depression to reveal the real one again. when mashburn decided to try to bring patrick on his side he sent lorelei. she mentionned 2 important clues , stating they could have been friends and that they shook hands . In the few episods we ve seen, they were getting quite well with each other, both being intrigued, surprised or challenged.
- They look alike, both are charming, cuning, dominating the others. this is about the perfect symetry in the poem , seeing a reflection of their own in the mirror.
- eventually walter managed to get lisbon , he could have seen her as a  game of their rivalry.thats why patrick cannot trust lisbon anymore as he found out about their affair, even if he still has feeling for her.
thats also why mashburn didnt kill her in episod1 because he is still using her against patrick.

Every week this season, the writers have been messing with us. Take a look at this board for example, after every week there is a new "hot suspect" and it just so happens to be the one that the writers are shoving down our throats that episode. 

I have my own personal favorites who I think RJ is and it's a great deal of fun reading everyone else's theories.......but don't buy into the weekly suspect that they are featuring.

Enjoy the chase and I'm looking forward to reading more theories!  :)

I don't know who is RJ but I hope it won't be Alex Jane. Because, for me he is not even close to Patrick with his abilities. If he is so capable why did he spend half of his life in circus scheming people for pocket money?
He is just greedy 3rd class con artist who can only trick naive old people or little kids. 
I would put him in a same rank like spiritual adviser Nate Glass.

OK, I would like to follow up on my theory from yesterday.  Many people are convinced that the list of 7 is real.  But it is not.  The problems include:

Kirkland & Smith: both met Jane after Lorelei told him about shaking hands with Red John (by the way, this throws out the validity of the entire list, not just these two guys.  Why would Jane include them on a list of his suspects?)

McCalister: Never shook hands with Jane. (Also, too tall, too old, and had a mustache that Rosalind never mentioned)

Bertram: Could never have killed Rebecca without being recognized.  Bald.  Too tall.  Jane had to teach him how to play poker.  Is ordered around by Smith.  Is acting way too suspicious in the last 2 episodes (RJ would never act like that).

Partridge: Dead.  Probably.  He was too young anyway.  But if not, who would ever follow him, be his friend, give their life for him?  Also, ditto on killing Rebecca.

Haffner:  Actually a reasonable suspect.  Other than not being smart, having money, charisma or being anything like Jane.  And ditto again on killing Rebecca.

Stiles:  Perfect in many ways.  But way too old.  He was not "some kid" at Visualize in 1988; he was the Guru.

So what was the meaning of this list of 7?  I have no idea.  But it is not Jane's list of suspects.

What is the real list?  Well, it is in the little notebook that Jane carries around with him all the time.  We got one look at it, and saw 5 names:

Ellis Mars

Dean Harkin

Jason Cooper

Walter Mashburn

Osvaldo Ardiles

So who has enough money to finance all of Red John's activities?  Who is the most charismatic character on the show (other than Jane)?  Who is "just like Jane?"  And who did Jane become very chummy with shortly after they met?  Same answer to all 4 questions:  Walter Mashburn.  Why will will be disappointed when he is revealed as RJ?  Because we all love him.  He is fun.  His episodes were the most fun of the show.  It will suck not to have him around.

A few more points that I didn't make yesterday.  Bruno Heller gave us plenty of hints (in the shows) that Mashburn is RJ:

Why did Roy/Red John take up with Rosalind Harker?  He is known to hate women.  Take a look at Marie, Mashburn's former fiancee.  She is a dead ringer for Rosalind.  And Mashburn said that he would someday win Marie back.

When Mashburn's rival (Yuri) was "killed" in the explosion, Mashburn's explanation to Lisbon why he didn't do it was that he had taken the love of his life (the company) from him, and that he wanted Yuri to live the rest of his life miserable, knowing that he had done it.  He said that that was much better than killing him.  What did RJ do to Jane as revenge for his insults?  He killed Janes wife and child, and left Jane alive, miserable, for the rest of his life, knowing that it was Jane's action that caused the death of his loved ones.

Mashburn said to Jane and Lisbon that "with enough planning, you can get away with murder."  RJ's killings are all perfectly planned out.  And Mashburn has been bored, since the sale of his company (around 1998), and as Jane said to him "murder is a thrill that you can not buy."

Red John wants Jane to be his friend.  The end of season 4 was all about trying to get Jane to be his friend.  Mashburn really loves Jane.  So why haven't we seen him since season 3?

When you take it all into consideration, the huge amount of money necessary to finance RJ's activities, the charisma that he must have for so many people to do such evil (and even commit suicide) for him, the fact that he is "just like Jane," and all of the physical and psychological characteristics, there is only one person.  Walter Mashburn is Red John.


Here is what I posted yesterday:

To find Red John, you need to analyze the entirety of the evidence, not just a single item (like the way he held his teacup).  What do we know about him?

He is male.

He kills women because he has some issue with them.  He only kills men when they get in the way.

He is powerful and has many friends in law enforcement who instantly give him all of the information that he needs.  As well as many other friends in all walks of life.

He is very wealthy (he can set up dummy companies, buy a farm to hold a girl for a friend, fly down to Mexico in no time send a limo to get Patrick that gets shot up and is untraceable, etc, etc.)

He is charming.  This is key.  He is not some creepy guy.  He can convince a multitude of people to do terrible things.  He has lots of friends and is generous with them.

He is incredibly smart.  He has outplanned and outwitted everyone for years.

He has a life where he will not be missed by anyone when he needs to do his Red John thing.

He was in Visualize "as a kid."  In 1988.  Making him about 45+ now. (rules out Stiles)

He killed two (male) co-workers in 1988, but didn't start killing women until 1998.

He is about 6' tall, short straight hair and average build (rules out Bertram, and Smith)

He doesn't want to kill Patrick Jane or Teresa Lisbon.  We can guess from that that he likes them (or at least likes sparring with them).

He shook hands with Jane before season 5 since Lorelei was in custody by then. (by the way, this rules out both Reede Smith and Bob Kirkland).

He has some kind of phobia.

He is very proud of what he does and how he has outsmarted Jane and not been caught.


OK.  So who of the 7 suspects fits this description.  Answer: no one.  And even if that were not the case, the list was stolen and Jane knew it and was happy when it happened.  So it is obviously bogus.  The real list was in his notebook.

So of all of the characters on the show the entire series, how many fit this description?  One.  Walter Mashburn.

Lots of the characteristics are obvious.  The physical look.  The money and connections.  Less obvious:

He was in reform school "as a kid."  Not a great leap to think that he was in Visualize.

He had a problem with his mother (who he called "Mr. Mashburn.")  He also had the love of his life break their engagement, and when that happened "something inside him cracked."  He used to be sweet, but then he changed.

He sold his company "for billions."  Right around 1998.

He has "a mild dirt phobia."

He was very antagonistic toward Jane when he first meets him.  But then he gets to know him and really likes him (and Jane likes him back).  And it is only a few episodes after they meet that Red John saves Janes life.

I always wondered why Red John would be watching some talk show where Jane was on, saw him diss Red John, and then managed to find where Jane lived, got there, killed his wife and daughter, wrote and left a typewriten note (including the fact that Jane had a daughter), and got out of there before Jane got back from the TV studio to his house.  But I remembered when Mashburn said his former wife was into all that mumbo jumbo.  My bet is that Jane was her psychic.  Or at least Mashburn already knew about Jane.  So he was watching the show and knew where he lived.

He is absolutely the most charming character the show has had.  Other than Jane.  The two make the perfect symmetry.  Tyger Tyger.

To me, the list is divided in many parts:

1. People who have a major interest in finding out who RJ is- Kirkland (representing Homeland Security), Smith (representing the FBI), Haffner (representing the private area), and Bertram (who I don`t know whose interests is representing, given his weird conversation with Smith)
2. People who have a strange connection to Red John:
- Partridge is the fan (and probably one of his disciples)- he is always guessing wrongly when it comes to RJ murders, so unless he does it on purpose, I guess this could be a clue related to his death. Maybe he was working for RJ and he made a mistake. I did something wrong. I am just guessing about his death, this theory isn`t about that)
-Bret Stiles, who, to me seems to be a former mentor of Red John. He doesn`t agree with RJ`s behavior, but does nothing to stop it. I think he is feeling guilty somehow about it. 
-Sheriff McAllister - this man is very interesting and weird. Maybe he is RJ, but something tells me that he isn`t. Anyway, he definitely is somehow connected to RJ.

My point is, none of them seems to have the motive to be Red John. I`m not saying that you should agree with me, because, at this point, anything is 100% sure.  Anyway, it kinda feels like the writers are reading all these theories and introduce them into the story. The CBI Ron thing, the pigeons fear, all that seems a little too much for me. 
When Jane said to Lisbon "I could marry you off in an instant" he was actually looking very attentively at RON, like he was speaking with him. And like he was threatening him. Weird. 

To find Red John, you need to analyze the entirety of the evidence, not just a single item (like the way he held his teacup).  What do we know about him?

He is male.

He kills women because he has some issue with them.  He only kills men when they get in the way.

He is powerful and has many friends in law enforcement who instantly give him all of the information that he needs.  As well as many other friends in all walks of life.

He is very wealthy (he can set up dummy companies, buy a farm to hold a girl for a friend, fly down to Mexico in no time send a limo to get Patrick that gets shot up and is untraceable, etc, etc.)

He is charming.  This is key.  He is not some creepy guy.  He can convince a multitude of people to do terrible things.  He has lots of friends and is generous with them.

He is incredibly smart.  He has outplanned and outwitted everyone for years.

He has a life where he will not be missed by anyone when he needs to do his Red John thing.

He was in Visualize "as a kid."  In 1988.  Making him about 45+ now. (rules out Stiles)

He killed two (male) co-workers in 1988, but didn't start killing women until 1998.

He is about 6' tall, short straight hair and average build (rules out Bertram, and Smith)

He doesn't want to kill Patrick Jane or Teresa Lisbon.  We can guess from that that he likes them (or at least likes sparring with them).

He shook hands with Jane before season 5 since Lorelei was in custody by then. (by the way, this rules out both Reede Smith and Bob Kirkland).

He has some kind of phobia.

He is very proud of what he does and how he has outsmarted Jane and not been caught.


OK.  So who of the 7 suspects fits this description.  Answer: no one.  And even if that were not the case, the list was stolen and Jane knew it and was happy when it happened.  So it is obviously bogus.  The real list was in his notebook.

So of all of the characters on the show the entire series, how many fit this description?  One.  Walter Mashburn.

Lots of the characteristics are obvious.  The physical look.  The money and connections.  Less obvious:

He was in reform school "as a kid."  Not a great leap to think that he was in Visualize.

He had a problem with his mother (who he called "Mr. Mashburn.")  He also had the love of his life break their engagement, and when that happened "something inside him cracked."  He used to be sweet, but then he changed.

He sold his company "for billions."  Right around 1998.

He has "a mild dirt phobia."

He was very antagonistic toward Jane when he first meets him.  But then he gets to know him and really likes him (and Jane likes him back).  And it is only a few episodes after they meet that Red John saves Janes life.

I always wondered why Red John would be watching some talk show where Jane was on, saw him diss Red John, and then managed to find where Jane lived, got there, killed his wife and daughter, wrote and left a typewriten note (including the fact that Jane had a daughter), and got out of there before Jane got back from the TV studio to his house.  But I remembered when Mashburn said his former wife was into all that mumbo jumbo.  My bet is that Jane was her psychic.  Or at least Mashburn already knew about Jane.  So he was watching the show and knew where he lived.

He is absolutely the most charming character the show has had.  Other than Jane.  The two make the perfect symmetry.  Tyger Tyger.

Well the preview for next weeks episode confirms what I've thought for awhile: the list of 7 is a fake. The toothpick scenes from season 5 should have tipped people off on that. Jane is setting someone or a group of people up. I could be completely wrong, but I think RJ will be someone completely off-the-wall. I'm going with Walter Mashburn and his money/connections. Darkhorse candidate: Volker.