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.