Just a brief thought regarding all these Partridge theories...

I liked my namesake as RJ but then he got KILLED.
One of the oldest writers' tricks is to 'kill' a character off early only to have them arise later as the true killer. Heller will be VERY aware of this device and will surely want something different for his outcome. He's invested a LOT of time into this - for it to end with such a massive writing cliche? I just can't see it.

He will have gone through every possibility asking himself - where is the best story? The best angle? How can I be original? What hasn't been done?

No doubt it would have gone through his mind to make Partridge RJ but then why go down the old cliche route of a fake death in 6.01. No.

I think his challenge will be - how can I make the best possible TV out of this. I'll play it straight with the list and the twist will come in revealing HOW RJ is one of these 7 (now 5). That's when the fireworks will happen. Not all in the reveal but the in back story. I'm guessing episode 7 will reveal RJ and we'll get the clever writing and back story flashbacks knitting it all together straight after. We'll learn all about how this man came to be in the episode entitled simply... "Red John"