Timothy Carter is first encountered at the end of the sting operation that revealed that FBI Agent Craig O'Laughlin was in fact a minion of Red John. Patrick Jane instructed Van Pelt to call the last number on O'Laughlin phone and tell whoever answered that O' Laughlin was dead. Jane overheard the call and confronted Carter. Carter would then claim that he was Red John. Jane didn't believe him at first, but then Carter gave details about the murder of Jane's wife and daughter, details that only the killer would know. Apparently convinced, Jane shot and killed Carter. Jane was soon arrested and put on trial for Carter's murder. Jane defended himself, and argued that since Carter seeming came out of nowhere, records showed him have been born and grown up in Africa, Carter was just a fake identity invented by Red John. The argument worked, and Jane was found Not Guilty. However Jane would later reveal to Lisbon that he had deceived everyone and did not believe that Carter was Red John. Jane would confirm this when he took Roslyn Harker, a girlfriend of Red John, to examine the body. She said she did not know who Carter was.Although not Red John, Carter was no innocent. He was certainly a minion of Red John, and had crimes on his own hands. He masqueraded as a pillar of the community, leading the search for a missing teenage girl. In fact, he and his wife were holding the girl in a secret room in their basement. Jane discovered this and rescued the girl.